Richard Holden MP Declares Victory in Campaign for New Community Hospital for Consett
Richard and Matt Hancock Shotley Bridge September 2020 photo

This afternoon the Government announced that a new community hospital will be built in Consett to replace the aged facility at Shotley Bridge. This announcement marks the culmination of a hard-fought campaign, which Richard Holden MP made the number one priority in his local manifesto at the 2019 General Election.  

For decades local people had seen services slowly removed from North West Durham, but with the announcement that the new hospital will see the current eight beds increased to sixteen, this represents a turning point for the community in the provision of local health services. 

Since the election, Richard has raised the Shotley Bridge Hospital six times in Parliament and in innumerable meetings with Ministers and officials. The former MPs for the area had only raised Shotley Bridge twice in Parliament in the previous decade. Last month Richard welcomed the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Matt Hancock MP, to Shotley Bridge – the first time any of the staff could remember a ministerial visit to the community hospital. Richard also raised his campaign for a new community hospital, Boris Johnson, at Prime Minister’s Question Time earlier this year.  

Richard, MP for North West Durham, said:  

“Today’s announcement is seismic; a sign of this Government’s commitment to levelling-up the whole country and of the Prime Minister’s personal commitment to our community in North West Durham. 

“Seeing services being renewed and upgraded is very important for our community which for too long has felt left-behind.  

“But this is just the start of the transformation I hope to bring to North West Durham. I will continue campaigning for our community for: good jobs, improved local services and improved life chances. The people of my constituency deserve nothing less.” 


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josephchristiansson
Joseph is Consett Magazine's writer of all things cool. You'll see him cover topics including I.T, Business, Food, Health and Fitness, and whatever else takes his fancy. If you've got an idea for a story, contact us

2 COMMENTS

  1. This was sorted and achieved long long before Mr Holden won the election. Many people have fought for this over many years. For him to claim this as something he has achieved is a disgrace.

  2. Tory false news! The funding was in place long before Richard Holden was an MP for NW Durham. All achieved by hard working hard campaigning residents! Were is their credit? Mr Holden has a cheek to steal the limelight from those who actually worked hard for this!!!

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