Cautious welcome for emergency care hospital
NHS North of Tyne has given a cautious welcome to the proposed development of a new emergency care hospital off the A19.
NHS North of Tyne agreed that further work would now take place on a number of issues and it would consider approving the development of the emergency care hospital once this had been completed.
The board gave its support to proposals to upgrade North Tyneside and Wansbeck general hospitals and to rebuild community hospitals in Berwick and Haltwhistle.
The package of proposals was developed by Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust which runs general and community hospitals across Northumberland and North Tyneside. As the commissioning body responsible for making sure that people living across Northumberland, North Tyneside and Newcastle receive the healthcare they need, NHS North of Tyne carried out public consultation over three months from early May to 28 July.
Chris Reed, chief executive of NHS North of Tyne, said: "We have given a cautious welcome to the development of a new emergency care hospital.
"However, there are a number of matters that need to be resolved or which require further consideration before we would be in a position to approve this development."
:: A report on the outcome of the consultation is available: www.northoftyne.nhs.uk
