Hartlepool borough councillors unanimously back bid to build new hospital in town

Labour deputy group leader Councillor Jonathan Brash raised the motion at the latest full meeting of Hartlepool Borough Council.

He said a decision on “significant investment” into hospital services in the North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust area is expected in the near future – with the town having “plenty of land” for any development.

Health officials said in 2021 that Stockton’s University Hospital of North Tees, where A & E services are located, had a maximum of 10 years left – with leaking roofs, freezing pipes, and awkward layouts all hampering staff.

The motion was seconded by Conservative Councillor Bob Buchan, which will see the council, on behalf of all members, write to the Secretary of State for Health Steve Barclay and the foundation trust calling for the investment in Hartlepool.

Speaking at the council’s latest full meeting, Cllr Brash said there was not a person in the room who had “not been touched on one level or another by the hospital services” in Hartlepool.

He added: “Our view, forget party, forget politics, it’s very very simple, we believe the best place to invest in hospital services is our town.

“If we get to a situation where the plan to deal with hospital services needing to be invested in is that we have investment in Stockton, what you will then be dealing with is a massive centralisation of hospital services in this area.

“A location in Hartlepool actually balances services incredibly effectively if you look at the other hospitals around the patch.”

The letter will stress Hartlepool Borough Council’s view that should a new build development get the go ahead, which would include a fully functioning A&E, then it should be at the University Hospital of Hartlepool site.

Alternatively should such a development not be approved, then significant long term investment will still be required, including the provision of a new A&E service, and this should also be at the Hartlepool site.

In 2021 North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust lodged a request for a new £380m hospital through the Government’s Health Infrastructure Fund.

Yet the decision making process has faced delays.