IN DEPTH I

Has two-and-half years of campaigning against changes paid off? Should we break out the champagne? If you’re feeling confused about the future of our hospital, don’t feel alone.

Even those of us who have been following the twists and turns of this hospital reconfiguration plan since it first emerged in November 2013 are a little overwhelmed.

Things have become so complicated it wouldn’t surprise me if the health chiefs on six figures don’t know what’s going on.

On Thursday, as the clock-set by former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt ran out, we in the media were hit with a trio of complex announcements about new proposals for the hospitals in our region.

When we had expected little more than a “we’re still working on it”, more delays and vague ambitions from hospital bosses, we were actually served with a raft of detailed proposals, following Mr Hunt’s rejection of the original plan to downsize the infirmary into little more than a minor injuries unit with an outpatients clinic.

What we didn’t expect was for Kirklees Council to produce hugely ambitious proposals of its own and Calderdale Council to pitch in with its own ideas.

So, three announcements, nearly five years since it all began, are we any clearer on what will actually happen to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary?