HUNDREDS of orthopaedic patients each year will be treated at a new unit in East Yorkshire after health chiefs decided to end surgery at a North Yorkshire hospital.

About 1,300 planned operations will be performed annually at Bridlington Hospital, with the move meaning Scarborough Hospital will mainly focus on treating emergency patients. The new £7 million orthopaedic ward and theatre complex at Bridlington is supported by York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, which took over the running of the East Coast hospitals in 2012.

A temporary theatre will initially be used in Bridlington, meaning patients from the town as well as Driffield and Beverley will travel there rather than to Hull. The trust said demand for emergency beds was increasing and will continue to grow and the changes would allow Bridlington Hospital to be used to its "full potential" while provide better emergency treatment in Scarborough.