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North Tees NHS trust bosses reveal £300m repair backlog

BBC North Tees hospitalBBC
Hospital bosses said it was costing £8m just to keep North Tees in its current condition

Health trust bosses say it will cost £288m to mend mounting repairs at its hospital sites.

Bosses say the University Hospital of North Tees is crumbling with ageing infrastructure hampering health teams. 

The hospital, which opened in the 1960s, has seen ceiling panels fall, leaks in heavy rain and pipes freezing.

Last month, trust leaders - who also run Hartlepool and Peterlee hospitals - said North Tees hospital only had 10 years left before it needed replacing.

Exposed pipes at North Tees hospital
Among the issues, the hospital has suffered from pipes freezing in winter

During last winter's Covid surge, virus patients had to be treated in operating theatres due to lack of room at North Tees.

Earlier this year, a worker had to stand with a hose to stop oxygen pipes from freezing and health bosses say teams regularly deal with ceiling leaks during heavy rain.

It is costing £8m just to keep the North Tees hospital in its current condition, North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust said.

Trust officials said the full cost for the maintenance list across all the trust's sites - including Hartlepool hospital - would be almost £300m. 

North Tees and Hartlepool Trust chief executive Julie Gillon
The trust's chief executive Julie Gillon said there was an "urgent need" for a new hospital

Trust chief executive Julie Gillon said: "We have a clear and urgent need for a new hospital site.

"While we are on track to meet the high-risk backlog work for next year, the overall long-term picture is less certain."

An independent report into the maintenance costs across all the hospital sites is expected to be published shortly.

Ms Gillon added the trust was looking to "source external funding through the Health Infrastructure Programme".

Missing ceiling panels at North Tees hospital
Missing ceiling tiles are common, the trust said

The hospital's north wing, south wing, and its seven-floor tower block are said to only have 10 years of use left.

Figures also show the wider hospital is costing more each year to maintain, with annual estate management costs rising more than 40% in the past five years.

Proposals for a £460m "super hospital" at Wynyard Park collapsed in 2010. 

The project, which would have replaced hospital buildings in Stockton and Hartlepool, was scrapped when the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government said it was "unaffordable".

Applications to the government for eight potential new hospitals close on Thursday.

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