Urgent Care Centre Returns to Hospital

steveL · August 16, 2016, 09: AM

I think it was over a year ago, before the May elections in 2015, that the The Post predicted this. At the same time, the local Labour shower changed tac and started to talk about bringing services back to the hospital.

Truth is, it's all about money. The contract to provide the urgent care centre at the £20m One Life Centre was up for renewal and someone had finally had the balls to admit that it would have been better to have left it at the hospital in the first place - just like the public have always said.

Forget any claims for credit from CAB and the carpetbaggers. It was a bad decision in the first place made by a PCT led by a leading Labour Councillor and a Labour Group that sat on its hands while it happened. Now the finances have finally hit home but remember - this is no A & E.

When the dust finally settles on this, millions of precious NHS money will have been wasted and the lives of thousands of staff and patients will have been disrupted all because a few bureaucrats were too arrogant to listen to the public.

Land Phil · August 16, 2016, 09: AM

Urgent care was never at the hospital, so how can it return.

It is not comparable to A&E so why do they use the terms interchangeably ?

fred c · August 16, 2016, 10: AM

They are typical spin soundbites, basically the common man would call them deceitful lies, this move is not going to be the panacea that Wells & Cwistopher claim it will be.
A&E won't return to Hartlepool, the only chance of keeping it was to have stopped it from moving in the first place & we all know what happened then, the LabTorMob sat on their hands & only woke up when prodded by the public getting their act together & kicking off.

The Great Dictator · August 16, 2016, 10: AM

The one life drop in centre is closing and returning to the hospital, north tees a&e is also closing and moving to james cook.

steveL · August 16, 2016, 11: AM

Quote from: Land Phil on August 16, 2016, 09: AM
Urgent care was never at the hospital, so how can it return.

It is not comparable to A&E so why do they use the terms interchangeably ?

You're right about that. The Mail refers to it as the Urgent Care Centre probably because this was how it was originally described by the PCT. There are actually two parts: a walk-in centre and a minor injury unit. The walk-in centre is for when you can't get into your own GP and the Minor Injuries Unit for simple breaks and injuries. It's not clear if both are moving to the hospital but as I said. neither amounts to anything like an A&E and neither amount to anything like what the spin told us at the time both were opened.

steveL · August 16, 2016, 11: AM

The Council's Press Release which, as you'd expect, is pretty much copied word for word by The Mail:

https://www.hartlepool.gov.uk/news/article/471/urgent_care_services_return_to_hospital

testing times · August 16, 2016, 04: PM

Talking to a nurse his morning who said this has been on the cards for a long time and is all about saving money. The contract at the One Life is just too expensive to run, apparently.

She asked me if I'd noticed just how many A&E cases were now being taken to James Cook from Hartlepool hinting that North Tees A&E is expected to go soon and that a merger between the two Hospital Trusts is now being planned creating the Tees Valley Hospital Trust.

Now who would have predicted that? Well OK, just about everyone :-)

The Great Dictator · August 16, 2016, 06: PM

The last Labour government borrowed £20m to build the one life centre which is now a white elephant.

It will become the next jacksons landing and will be mothballed within 10 years.

Inspector Knacker · August 16, 2016, 09: PM

Quote from: The Great Dictator on August 16, 2016, 10: AM
The one life drop in centre is closing and returning to the hospital, north tees a&e is also closing and moving to james cook.

Which begs the question what is the future of North Tees. This whole thing is getting completely farcical, are we to understand that James Cook will be the A&E for the whole area?
Does this mean a massive influx of cases to James Cook or we supposed to diagnose ourselves, do I go to the urgent care centre (an overstated name) or go to James Cook.
The suits tell you your world is safer by moving your A&E to North Tees, so by making it even more inaccesible, does that mean it's even better still ?

Land Phil · August 16, 2016, 10: PM

There will be times when it will be quicker to go to Durham hospital than James Cook.

The language used in the article, delighted etc. makes me suspicious that somebody is benefitting in an underhand way. I wonder who ?

not4me · August 17, 2016, 08: AM

The suits have made a complete mess of the local NHS when you think of the disruption caused and the money wasted. Strikes me a £22m GP Practice isn't going to last too long either. How long will it be till the Great White One Life becomes the Great White Elephant?

The Great Dictator · August 17, 2016, 10: AM

Not long, its basically just a doctors surgery now but costs a small fortune to run, clean and heat.

Inspector Knacker · August 17, 2016, 11: AM

The OneLife was sold to us as the all dinging all dancing answer to that unsafe Fuddy Duffy old A & E we had. Our representatives (I use the word in its very loosest sense) threw themselves on the Wynyard bandwagon. Everyone and the cat knew how it was going to end and lo and behold it did. They were left like rabbits in the headlights and opted for conversion on the road to Damascus. It ain't fooling no one.