A SURPRISE fact to come out of the public consultation into the future of Castleberg Hospital, Giggleswick, was the number of people who had used the facility from all parts of Craven, heard last week’s area committee of North Yorkshire County Council.

The new Skipton and Ripon Area Constituency Committee - formerly Craven Area Committee - met last Friday at Skipton Town Hall when it agreed to assume the role of making sure plans to reintroduce services at the community hospital takes place.

In a report to the committee, members were told that the county council’s Scrutiny of Health Committee had asked that the Skipton and Area Committee to take on lead responsibility for scrutiny of the implementation of plans to deliver services at the hospital, that has been temporarily closed since April last year.

“The are constituency committee is in a unique position to assess the local impact and long term sustainability of the services that are being put in place and then make any necessary recommendations to the scrutiny of health committee,” said the report.

The community hospital was closed unexpectedly in April, 2017, due to patient safety concerns relating to the structure of the building.

In May, and following public consultation, which included the possible permanent closure of the hospital, the governing body of the Airedale Wharfedale and Craven CCG decided to reopen the building, after repairs had taken place. Also included was the recommendation that Castleberg be developed as a community based facility with options for a broader range of services, particularly the voluntary sector.

NHS Property Services have arranged for the hospital to be re-surveyed to assess its current state and to establish what needs to be done before it can be re-opened. It had been hoped services would start from December, but now looks to be more like the New Year.

Cllr Richard Welch, committee chairman, said a lot of work was going on behind the scenes and welcomed the scrutinising role of the constituency committee.