MISLEADING signage has lead to confusion in Catterick Garrison over the location of an out of hours GP surgery.

The Duchess of Kent Hospital in the garrison had been used as a base for the out of hours service until late October, when the service was moved to the Friarage Hospital in Northallerton following a failed safety inspection of the out-dated building.

Hambleton, Richmondshire and Whitby Clinical Commissioning Group assured patients the service would not be out of Richmondshire for long – and within two weeks it was moved into the Harewood Medical Practice in Richmond Road, Catterick Garrison.

But since the move one month ago, road signs directing patients to the Duchess of Kent Hospital have not been removed.

North Yorkshire County Councillor for the Upper Dales, John Blackie, said he had been contacted by a mother who had to make a frantic dash to the out of hours service for her child at 3am – but had to visit a Tesco store to find out where to go.

Cllr Blackie said: “This lady had to travel 23 miles from the Dales in poor weather conditions with a sick child in the middle of the night.

“She didn’t know Catterick well and followed the road signs to the out of hours service – which led her straight to the gates of the closed Duchess of Kent Hospital.

“She had to go to a supermarket to ask where to go, and luckily the correct surgery was nearby.”

A spokesman from Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, which provides the service, said it was working with North Yorkshire County Council Highways to correct the signage.

He added: “The highways department has this on a jobs list and we are giving directions to all our patients over the phone.

“It is not a drop-in clinic so patients will always call us first and we will let them know where to go.”

But Cllr Blackie said directions given in the middle of the night, when a parent is concerned for a sick child, are not very helpful.

He said: “How can people be expected to take that in? I have requested new signs directing people to Harewood Surgery.”

He added that he had been informed that the signs will be removed by a local representative from the Defence Infrastructure Organisation, part of the Military of Defence, as soon as possible.