MORE surgeries could soon be carried out at Hartlepool’s hospital after a major shake-up by health chiefs.
Big changes to the way hospital care is delivered across the region are being proposed to ensure NHS clinical services remain sustainable.
The strategy proposes increasing activity in the surgical hub at the University Hospital of Hartlepool.
Matt Neligan, Chief Strategy Officer at University Hospitals Tees, said: “We’ve got a number of services that are duplicated across Teesside. We’ve got James Cook University Hospital and we’ve got the University Hospital North Tees, which are six miles apart as the crow flies and haven’t worked closely together over the last few decades.”
He added: “We’ve got a number of workforce and performance pressures, and increasingly the financial pressures create pressure on our service. That’s exacerbated by the growth in the population so we know that if we stand still the demand on inpatient emergency care is going to grow by about 40 per cent over the next 15 years.”
North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust and South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust – working in partnership as University Hospitals Tees – told a meeting of North Yorkshire Council “radical changes” were needed to ensure hospital services remained sustainable.
The changes are set to include a shift to providing more care in the community and people’s own homes, and a focus on prevention through education.
The “hospital at home” service could be expanded with the equivalent of 500 extra beds created, while hospital at home services for children and young people could be added.
Author: Ian
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