North Tees: Bid to replace 'crumbling' hospital rejected

A report had found University Hospital of North Tees had just 10 years left due to its deteriorating condition

A £380m bid to replace a "crumbling" Teesside hospital has been rejected.

University Hospital of North Tees failed to make it onto a list of five sites which are set to be rebuilt under multibillion-pound plans.

The decision was met with "anger" by Labour's Alex Cunningham while Conservative Matt Vickers was "gutted".

The government said the hospitals chosen were prioritised as they were deemed at risk of collapse due to deteriorating concrete infrastructure.

The site, in Hardwick, near Stockton, was built in the 1960s and had been branded "not fit for purpose" due to its leaking roofs and windows, broken ceiling panels and freezing pipes.

A bid to replace it was submitted in 2021 but was delayed, with 128 applications from 100 health trusts fighting for a handful of funding.

Plans for a so-called super hospital were axed by the coalition government a decade ago (image from 2021)

A previous report to the trust said buildings had been given a 10-year lifespan - endangering patients, staff and the public if not maintained - and would be "beyond their effective use/purpose by 2031".

By that time, the cost of maintaining the three buildings was estimated to rise to about £300m, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The hospital was visited by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Health Secretary Steve Barclay in January as they announced plans to cut waiting times.

Mr Cunningham, MP for Stockton North, said staff had been left trying to "fit a modern health service into a very old building".

"They're spending thousands and thousands of pounds every week just trying to maintain the building and keep it functioning," he said.

"This programme's supposed to go up to 2030 and there's no indication of when other areas can bid for future new hospitals."

Funding has already been agreed for a new diagnostic centre for Stockton town centre, to "improve access" to tests and scans.

About £8m a year is being spent on repairs, including leaking roofs (picture from 2021)

Matt Vickers, MP for Stockton South, hit back at Mr Cunningham's claims the government was "ignoring" the area.

"We received £40m towards upgrading James Cook and North Tees hospitals with new radiology equipment and a new respiratory unit, £3m for a mental health crisis hub and a further £20m to deliver a brand new community diagnostic centre," he added.

"Despite not being a hospital, our diagnostic centre is forecast to carry out 104,000 lifesaving checks every year with state-of-the-art equipment."

A spokesperson for the trust said: "We will continue to work with our colleagues at the government, as well as with our communities and our dedicated workforce to ensure we can offer our patients the very highest standard of care to people across the Tees Valley for many decades to come."

The government said it recognised the need "for continuous investment" in healthcare infrastructure and future investment would be available.