A&E downsized in £200m shake-up

North Tyneside and Wansbeck General hospital will no longer admit 999 calls

Two accident and emergency departments in Tyneside and Northumberland will be downsized to make way for one new specialist unit.

Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has announced £200m proposals, with £75m being spent on a Specialist Emergency Care Unit near Cramlington.

The new super hospital will deal with all emergencies across the region.

A trust spokeswoman said that A&E facilities at Wansbeck and North Tyneside hospitals will be scaled back.

She said: "The trust proposes to build a £75m state-of-the-art specialist emergency hospital and spend £125m on improving existing hospitals in Northumberland and North Tyneside.

As a consultant, I want to be able to take the best practice available world-wide and offer this to patients in Northumbria Chris Biggin, emergency medicine consultant

"The new hospital will be based near the A19 by Cramlington, and will have specialists on hand to deal with all emergencies.

"The accident and emergency departments will still exist at both Wansbeck and North Tyneside hospitals but they will no longer admit 999 calls."

Under the proposals, seriously ill patients would be taken straight to the proposed new specialist emergency hospital to be seen by experts who specialise in that condition.

Once a patient's condition has improved, they will be transferred to their local hospital for further treatment and recovery.

The new hospital would have a major A&E department, 210 beds, intensive care, consultant-led maternity services and operating theatres.

Chris Biggin, emergency medicine consultant at the trust, said: "I've been working in emergency medicine for the past 11 years and we have taken massive strides forward.

"As a consultant, I want to be able to take the best practice available world-wide and offer this to patients in Northumbria.

"To do this, I see a specialist emergency hospital as the only logical next step. It will allow us to take emergency medicine to the next level."