Motion set to go before the full council this week asks the council to ensure any future investment for a new hospital comes to Hartlepool....
Monday 12th December 2022 07:13am
A motion set to go before councillors this week will ask that the local council contacts the government asking for assurances that any future investment in hospital services on Teesside comes to Hartlepool...
The towns Labour group says Hartlepool Hospital has the scope for long term cost effective development as opposed to North Tees Hospital in Stockton on Tees approx. 12 miles away from Hartlepool, with claims the lifespan for North Tees is now “short” where by contrast its claimed Hartlepool Hospital has “decades left”, with significant land to allow for future development..
Hartlepool lost its A&E unit in August 2011, along with other frontline NHS services
In addition to the request that the council asks the government to consider Hartlepool as the future site for any potential future investment in the areas health services, the Labour Group has also proposed the council requests that any future investment in the local hospital includes the return of the A&E services, something which was taken away from Hartlepool back in August 2011, when emergency services were transferred to nearby North Tees Hospital...
North Tees Hospital in Stockton on Tees has just 10 years left of its lifespan requiring significant works to keep the building maintained
Building of a new multi million pound hospital in Stockton on Tees however has been claimed not to be a viable option, as North Tees Hospital currently doesn't have enough land available to develop a new facility whilst the current hospital remains in place, with Labour saying Hartlepool's hospital has decades left on its lifespan with the potential to develop upon the existing hospital site being "viable" as opposed to the alternatives...
The motion set to be put before the full council this week proposes that the Council therefore resolves to write to both the Secretary of State for Health and the Foundation Trust, in the spirit of cross party unity, to express our united and clear view that:
1.
Should a new build development get the go ahead, which would include fully functioning A&E, then it should be at the Hartlepool site.
2.
Should such investment not be approved then significant long term investment will still be required, including the provision of a new A&E service, and this should be at the Hartlepool site.
The hospital saga timeline.....
Plans for the Wynyard "super hospital" have been on & off the cards since 2003...
Hartlepool had previously seen plans for a new multi million pound "super hospital" thrown out by the coalition government of 2010, however by the time those plans had been shelved, many of Hartlepool Hospitals NHS services had been commissioned to other trusts across Teesside with only a handful of services ever returning, & leaving much of Hartlepool Hospital itself mothballed, with claims that even some parts of the hospital were once used as a part of a prop for a TV production several years ago.
In August 2003 , the proposal for a so called ‘super hospital ’ north of the Tees was first proposed, sparking a backlash with the Hartlepool-based Save Our Hospital group, a campaign group set up to save hospital services at Hartlepool Hospital..
February 2004 - Health bosses revealed the proposals to replace the ageing University of North Tees and Hartlepool hospitals with a new £175m “super-hospital”, with Wynyard on the outskirts of Hartlepool earmarked as the potential location. The then Health Secretary John Reid then writes out to Hartlepool householders vowing the hospital will not close while he is Secretary of State.
August 2004 - Professor Ara Darzi heads a Department of Health review to see how the “fullest range of services” can be maintained at Hartlepool Hospital.
July 2005 - Campaigners celebrate as Darzi rejects the plans for a single-site Hospital. The future of North Tees and Hartlepool hospitals then looked set to be secured as Mr Darzi recommended that they continue hospital services on two sites. But a new row then erupts as North Tees is told it could potentially lose its consultant-led maternity and children’s services, including the Special Care Baby Unit, to Hartlepool.
January 2007 - The Wynyard super hospital comes back on the agenda as the new Labour Secretary of State for Health Patricia Hewitt makes public the decision for the future of health services on Teesside. The move follows an independent review and represents a major U-turn from Darzi’s controversial plans to switch doctor-led maternity and paediatrics to Hartlepool.
Sept 2007 - A supplementary question put to Hartlepool Borough Councils full meeting by Councillor G Lilley asked Labour Cllr Jonathan Brash whether continuing to fight for services to remain at Hartlepool Hospital was "a lost cause" with Labours Cllr Brash then responding saying "the fight to save Hartlepool Hospital was over".....
May 2008 - A three-month public consultation is then launched on whether Wynyard or Wolviston would be the best site for the proposed £416m development.
July 2008 - Tempers flare at a public meeting as 150 Wynyard residents come out in force and demand to know why the final two choices are less than a mile apart from each other, and so close to their homes.
October 2008 - It is confirmed the new hospital will be built at Wynyard Business Park.
November 2009 - Hartlepool Council approves outline planning permission for the new hospital at Wynyard Park.
December 2009 - The North East Strategic Health Authority approved the development.
March 2010 - Labour Health Secretary Andy Burnham visits Hartlepool to finally give the go-ahead.
June 17, 2010 - Funding for the £463m development is scrapped by the newly-elected Coalition Government over funding concerns....
August 2010 - North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust pledge to go ahead with the project, which would be funded by Private Finance Initiative cash, which could’ve potentially pushed the total cost of the proposed hospital to £660m.
January 2011 - The plans are then scaled down a £300m development, as taking measures such as removing one floor of the building from the original plans
November 2011 - The project then faces fresh delays after the Government announces a review into Private Finance Initiatives
April 2012 - The trust sets out a revised business case - saying it will now try to find funding for the development from private pension funds.
December 2012 - Three shortlisted bidders to build the hospital are announced.
March/April 2013 - Two out of the three bidders drop out of the race.
July 2013 - Commercial director Kevin Oxley, who had led the project to build the new controversial "super hospital", leaves the trust due to ill health.
September 2013 - A new planning application is submitted to Hartlepool Council.
February 2014 - Hartlepool Council approves the plans - but only giving the trust three years to begin work.
May 2014 - Hospital bosses confirm they are still in talks with Government over whether £100m of funding will be provided.
October 2014 - Plans for the scheme are suspended after fresh doubts over funding are raised. All development work was then “paused” ahead of a General Election.
Let's not forget it was a labour council that overruled the recommendation that Hartlepool hospital should not lose services.