'We need a new hospital' plea as Hartlepool's main health trust faces £288m repair backlog

The University Hospital of North Tees, in Stockton, is the main hospital serving Hartlepool patients.

Bosses at North Tees and Hartlepool NHS trust have repeatedly warned its University Hospital of North Tees is crumbling with ageing infrastructure hampering health teams.

Calls for a new Stockton hospital have grown ever louder as ceiling panels fall away and pipes froze during last winter’s covid surge.

NHS figures show University Hospital of North Tees had a “high risk” repair backlog of £1.1m in 2019-20.

But trust officials say the full cost to eradicate the maintenance list across all the trust’s sites – including the University Hospital of Hartlepool – will cost almost £300m to clear.

Trust chief executive Julie Gillon said: “We have a clear and urgent need for a new hospital site.

“While we are on track to meet the high risk backlog work for next year, the overall long-term picture is less certain.

“The full cost to eradicate the backlog maintenance across all hospital sites will push circa £288m. This will be supported by an independent report which will be published shortly.

North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust is appealing for help to find the family of the late Nigel White.

“To help ensure we are fit for the future, we are looking to source external funding through the Health Infrastructure Programme.

“Our staff and our community deserve the very best and in order to continue delivering world class healthcare, we need a new hospital site.”

Virus patients had to be treated in operating theatres due to lack of room at the University Hospital of North Tees last winter.

Teams regularly deal with ceiling leaks during heavy rain.

A worker had to stand with a hose to stop oxygen pipes from freezing earlier this year.

The problems have grown worse since proposals for a £460m “super hospital” at Wynyard Park, on the outskirts of Hartlepool, fell by the wayside in 2010 when the incoming coalition Government began reducing public spending.

Trust finance bosses have calculated it will cost an estimated £300m to rebuild the North Tees site with a refurbishment the “least preferred option”.

Applications to the Government for eight potential new hospitals close on September 9.

In a separate development, the Mail revealed earlier this week how hundreds of operations and other healthcare procedures were delayed in Hartlepool during the summer’s so-called Delta Covid-19 surge.