Hospital Provision: Tees Valley

Debate between Jill Mortimer and Peter Gibson

Tuesday 28th March 2023 Westminster Hall

[Jill Mortimer]

I need to make some progress.

The first plan that Julie and I favoured was an upgrade and return of services to Hartlepool, new diagnostic hubs in Hartlepool and Stockton, and a new hospital closer to the A19 in Hartlepool, which would be the major trauma centre. This was a bold new model. It would allow people to access diagnostic and out-patient facilities very locally and to travel to the true central point of all the communities in the Tees Valley for major procedures in a state-of-the-art new facility. Sadly, with the huge pull on public funds created by the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the rising cost of living, it has become clear that that project will not be possible in the near future.

Undeterred, Julie and I returned to the drawing board with a plan to upgrade Hartlepool further and maximise the return of services to that site. I mentioned that there is not enough capacity for the significant volume of elective surgical procedures in Tees Valley NHS sites. The upgrade at Hartlepool, with a proposed 40% increase in operating theatres, would address that lack of resources and increase capacity to perform those elective procedures in a new centre of excellence. That would be alongside a new, much-needed primary care hub and a community hub, which would enable patients to be fully rehabilitated before being discharged. That would free up hospital beds on wards.

I also point out to the Minister that, like most things that I inherited in my constituency, hospital services had not been championed by predecessor Labour MPs for too long.

[Peter Gibson (Darlington) (Con)]

My hon. Friend is a fantastic champion for Hartlepool and is doing incredible work to secure the hospital. Representing as she does the former lands of Mandelson, Milburn, Mowlam and Blair—all who are here today represent such places—does she agree that there is very little to show in our region for their years in office, save for costly PFI deals?

[Jill Mortimer]

I totally agree with my hon. Friend. The fact that we are here now is the proof of the pudding; people got tired of being ignored by Labour MPs who took the heartlands for granted.

[Peter Gibson]

They took the north for granted for years.

[Jill Mortimer]

Exactly. The Minister might be surprised to learn that the trust has not received significant capital investment to improve its services since its initial construction more than 50 years ago, while neighbouring trusts have received funding more recently. That results in a significantly lower per capita spend for the population served by the trust—around £60 per head in the region, compared with neighbouring trusts that receive more than 11 times that amount, at £680 per head. I am sure I do not need to point out to him that positive change means productivity and prosperity. Those things are limited by a high local prevalence of chronic disease.

Our local population has a higher prevalence of 17 out of 21 chronic conditions recorded on the quality and outcomes framework in 2020-21. Both long-term and temporary sickness are cited as the main reason for unemployment in Hartlepool; at 33%, that is higher than the national rate of 25%, suggesting that poor health outcomes are the main driver of unemployment in the region and underlining the significant need for a return of good health services locally.

[Peter Gibson]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for giving way once again; she is being incredibly generous with her time. We were all elected on a mission to level up, and levelling up is about delivering on those health outcomes. Does she agree that levelling up health inequalities in the north-east is a key part of why we are here?

[Jill Mortimer]

Absolutely. It is incredibly important because, without levelling up health disparities, we cannot get growth or productivity, so it is very important to make sure that we have a happy, healthy population.

The historic lack of prosperity means that a disproportionately high percentage of the local population is in the lowest 10% for deprivation in England, based on the index of multiple deprivation. That puts Hartlepool in the bottom 10 of 147 local authorities nationally. High levels of deprivation also contribute to the fact that life expectancy in Hartlepool and throughout the Tees Valley is considerably lower than the national average in the most deprived areas.

It is the lack of prosperity and the deprivation that I was elected to fight. The people of Hartlepool voted for me to bring positive change. They wanted an MP who finally listened and did something about it. I will not rest until we get the local health services that we deserve and have been so cruelly deprived of. We have been ignored for too long. Will the Minister commit to meeting Julie Gillon and me to discuss the matter further?