Sir, – When you read the document published by the County Durham and Darlington NHS Trust called Right First Time 24/7 you can see the new name for a walk-in centre is to be emergency centre and the new name for A&E departments is going to be major emergency centres. It is proposed there are going to be only 40 to 70 major emergency centres in the country; that would be A&E Departments to you and me. Are we to have a major emergency centre in Darlington or not?

It is true we have had a two-tier service here in Darlington for at least a decade. At the moment stroke patients are moved from Darlington to James Cook if they are to be treated. Sue Jacques confirms this in her remarks published in the Echo of September 3, 2014 and I thank her for that.

Isn't moving Dr Piper House, our walk-in centre, to the Darlington Memorial Hospital just covering up the fact our A&E is to be downgraded to a walk-in centre?

Why when one of our orthopaedic wards was closed in Darlington recently (for a refit) were the staff told it would not be reopening as an orthopaedic ward? Is orthopaedic trauma now going to be treated at James Cook too? We must secure promises from the MP for Bishop Auckland and the MP for Darlington and all the candidates in the forthcoming general election these proposals will be scrapped. Can anyone else think of an A&E department west of Darlington before you reach Carlisle? James Cook is a further 20 miles from Darlington.

Anyone wishing to help with a petition to support continued A&E service in Darlington can sign the petition at a number of shops in Darlington's West End or contact me for a form on nigel_boddy@hotmail.com

We have already gathered 1,000 names but naturally we want to lobby further against these proposals.

NIGEL BODDY

Darlington.