Bid to build new £380m hospital to serve Hartlepool

Freezing pipes, broken ceiling panels and leaking roofs are all dogging efforts to keep Stockton’s University Hospital of North Tees fit for purpose.

Its bosses have now lodged a request for a new £380m hospital through the Government’s Health Infrastructure Fund.

This latest round of bids is designed to select another eight sites to have new hospitals by 2030.

North Tees will be included in a “two stage selection process” followed by a more in-depth exercise to whittle the list down further later this year.

While acknowledging the trust’s duty to fund ongoing repairs, chief executive Julie Gillon said: “We have every confidence that the government understands the urgent need we have for a new hospital site.”

A vision for a £460m “super hospital” at Wynyard Park to replace both existing Stockton and Hartlepool hospitals was axed by the incoming coalition government in 2010.

Doubts over funding a less costly scheme saw the entire project shelved in 2014.

While a preferred site has still to be publicly confirmed, talks have taken place over the trust creating a secondary facility as part of Stockton’s High Street revamp.

A refurbishment of the existing hospital site is classed as the “least preferred option” among health leaders due to the disruption it could bring.

Labour Stockton North MP Alex Cunningham, whose constituency covers Billingham, said: “If the Government is truly serious about “levelling up”, they would invest in a new hospital for Stockton and tackle the significant health inequalities people on Teesside face.”