New £2.5m respiratory ward for hospital serving Hartlepool

Stockton’s University Hospital of North Tees is set to see its new £2.5m respiratory support unit open on November 22 as winter pressures loom over the NHS.

Health officials say the new facility in the hospital’s main tower will replace one of two existing respiratory wards to improve infection control and provide a better ventilation system.

Covid-19 patient numbers have held steady since September at the trust.

A total of 46 virus patients were being treated on wards on Monday – with six intensive care unit beds occupied by people with coronavirus.

Respiratory consultant Vandana Jeebun said Covid-19 had shown the existing unit needed “significant modernisation” to cope.

Dr Jeebun added: “One of the early lessons was that we required a bespoke space to be able to better visually monitor our patients who are at high risk of deterioration.

“Traditional ward layouts are unfortunately not designed to facilitate this.

“In addition, we knew that we needed significant changes in the provision of oxygen supply alongside modern ventilation systems to be able to care for many of the sick patients in the right place.”

The trust has submitted a £380m bid for government cash to overhaul or rebuild the crumbling hospital.

Yet campaigners in Hartlepool insist any new hospital could be built within the existing grounds of the University Hospital of Hartlepool.

Hartlepool MP Jill Mortimer also raised the issue in the House of Commons last week and said a hospital could be housed on an unnamed site in her constituency.

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