Hartlepool Post Forum

Hartlepool not a chance.

The leader at South Tyneside definately, mind you would probably have to prise him away from his current job!

Ask yourself one simple question and all will be revealed, would you employ any of these people?

People locally tend not to know what inpatient work is still done at Hartlepool.  There are still 90 beds for inpatient use with occupancy levels running well above the 85% guideline.  Whilst the closure of A&E remains the most controversial decision, the loss of other acute specialties around the same time affected many more patients.
Once the decision was made to consolidate all the Intensive Care doctors at North Tees, it was inevitable that the major surgery cases and higher risk medical cases could no longer be done at Hartlepool.  There weren’t enough qualified staff to meet new clinical standards for intensive care on both sites, hence the decision to put them all on one site at North Tees.
Once decisions like that are made it is difficult to turn the clock back.  Recruitment remains a problem for some specialities (as with other health trusts) which is why the NHS is looking to change under the sustainability and transformation plans. 
As for Hartlepool, one area I would like to see improved is access to the Maternity Unit 24 hours per day.  The figures for births at the HGH site in recent years is alarmingly low with mothers in labour redirected to North Tees far too often.  The CQC report highlighted this as an area for action.
I would like more at Hartlepool Hospital and in time the STP process may help deliver that.  Generally within the NHS the trend is towards keeping people out of hospital wherever possible, using early intervention and preventing minor problems becoming serious ones requiring admission to hospitals (the ‘Hospital at home service’ is an example of this for patients with COPD) which is working well in the area. If a patient needs admission it should be for a short period of time, days rather than weeks, but this system requires the community services to be resourced and available to support patients on return home (or care home if resident there normally).
It won’t change quickly and the government have yet to convince staff or public that they fully support the NHS.  In the meantime it should be stated as often as possible that HGH is not closed and still does a lot of important work, inpatients, day cases, outpatients and an Urgent Care Service 24 hours/365 days of the year.  Smaller than it was but still very important to patients.

Stirling Moss and his crew (or at least part of it - I only saw two machines) were out mowing this morning in the area around Braemar Road, south side of Rossmere Park.

To be fair NTH NHS Trust have worked very hard over the last 2 years to ensure the Urgent Care service would be a strong contender if any closure decision happened.  That hard work has won praise from many areas of the NHS as the Integrated Urgent Care model is seen as the best option to ensure patients receive the right treatment in the right place.  Waiting times down is just one element of that.

National recognition of this work can be found here:
https://www.nth.nhs.uk/news/urgent-care-service-wins-prestigious-nhs-70-award/

There will always be people who wish to return A&E in Hartlepool, it is unlikely to ever happen, but there is nothing wrong with acknowledging the improvements made in the last two years.  The Integrated Urgent Care Centres at North Tees and Hartlepool are working well and helping ensure the Emergency Department at North Tees is reserved for life threatening cases.

My views may not be popular but they represent an honest appraisal of the current situation for Hartlepool and North Tees.