Darlington<\/a> NHS Foundation Trust CEO Steve Russell admitted there was no funding in place to deliver a much-needed extension to Durham’s A&E department.\n<\/p>\n\n A two-storey extension to University Hospital North Durham’s emergency department received planning approval in January 2023 and was intended to help the hospital cope with increasing demand.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\n But despite a business case to develop it, the trust has admitted there was no funding officially in place to deliver the plans, and costs for the project have since spiralled towards \u00a380m. Planning permission has also expired.\n<\/p>\n
\n In the letter, Ms Foy said: “Residents across the City of Durham are alarmed by reports that, despite an approved business case, the planned A&E extension was never formally funded and can no longer proceed.\n<\/p>\n
\n ![]()
City of Durham MP, Mary Kelly Foy (Image: MARY FOY)\n<\/p>\n
\n “This leaves a much-needed project at a standstill and is particularly concerning given the Trust’s own assessment that the current department is no longer fit for purpose.\n<\/p>\n
\n “The staff provide excellent care in facilities that were designed for significantly lower levels of demand than those experienced today, and investment can be delayed no longer.\n<\/p>\n
\n “Residents and NHS staff have waited many years for progress on this redevelopment. I would therefore be grateful if you could set out what support the Department can provide to help the Trust develop a deliverable scheme for North Durham’s A&E and whether an assessment has been made of the impact of the current accommodation on patient care, staff wellbeing and service resilience.”\n<\/p>\n
\n ![]()
University Hospital of North Durham in Durham City. CEO of the County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, Steve Russell (Image: Chris Booth)\n<\/p>\n
\n The MP went on to urge the government to consider the NHS Trust in County Durham and Darlington for future funding.\n<\/p>\n
\n “This facility is so important to patients, staff and families across County Durham and they cannot afford further delay,” added Ms Foy.\n<\/p>\n
\n “I hope the Government will ensure that proposals from County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust receive serious consideration in future NHS capital investment programmes.”\n<\/p>\n
\n ![]()
Health Secretary, Yvette Cooper (Image: PA MEDIA)\n<\/p>\n
\n Initially, the redevelopment of the University Hospital of North Durham had been designed to address rising pressure on the emergency department, which was built to handle around 30,000 attendances a year.\n<\/p>\n
\n Health bosses previously estimated that annual attendances could increase to approximately 79,000.\n<\/p>\n
\n Under the approved plans, the extension would have been built next to the existing emergency department.\n<\/p>\n
\n The scheme included the demolition of several buildings, including Dryburn House, a Grade II-listed former hospital building opposite A&E. A memorial garden used by parents to remember their babies would also have been relocated.\n<\/p>\n
\n Some early work was completed, including the demolition of the hospital\u2019s East Wing corridor, but construction of the new department did not begin.\n<\/p>\n
\n The trust had previously said the redevelopment remained a ‘strategic priority’ but was dependent on sufficient national NHS capital funding and regulatory approval.\n<\/p>\n
\n A similar proposal was approved in 2017 but lapsed before the replacement application was given permission in 2023.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"City of Durham MP Mary Kelly Foy has penned a letter to Health Secretary Yvette Cooper, asking for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":757631,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[102,2960,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-757630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/757630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=757630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/757630\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/757631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=757630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=757630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=757630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}