Just an opinion but it won't be here much longer.

Friend took ill last night, NHS helpline ordered an ambulance for her, destiny North Tees.

I could have walked to our hospital quicker than the ambulance would have got to North Tees, even under blue lights. Ok she wasn't as bad as first thought but what a shambles of a country when a so called emergency case has to be taken 15 or so miles away, and NHS helpline decided it was emergency not the friend. She be coming home today and has to get a taxi.

What was it Iain F****** Wright said, when he needed re-electing.(rhetorical question)

Then again him and his family are probably in BUPA.

Bupa wouldnt help in an A&E situation would they?

The Nuffield Hospital in Norton would be closer though (just)

and they are on about stopping the bus service that replaced about three wards,so if you had an appointment at north tees and had no transport you would need to get at least two buses

Welcome back to Tory Britain, Bob.

Have to say, it was a big factor in uprooting the family.

The Nuffield doesnt have an A&E Department though does it?

But this being caused by the Lib Dems, the worlds most hypocritical political party.

This is where the lines become blurred, Mr C.
I don't really think there's any doubt who is pulling the strings in this so-called coalition. Clegg also knows he has rendered his own party completely un-electable for generations by putting his party's name to policies like this one, tuition fees etc...

i thought ian wright was a labour mp, who pronmised us the hospital was safe ?

there is only one thing ian wright has on his agenda and that is the wellbeing of ian wright

whatever can you mean ?

Alternativly.... it's a great time to be a taxi driver transporting people from north tees to hartlepool, £20 a pop.

Have a word will ya. Labour were in power when this hospital "carry on" started, we were/are and always will be a labour town. If any political party is to blame for this digrace then it categorically has got to be the labour party.

How anyone can now blame the tories or lib dems is beyond me.

Personally I think Jeremy Clarkson should be appointed PM, the man just speaks sense.

at the risk of being banned from a board I hardly ever post on....what a 'lovely lovely person' you are

Jeremy Clarkson is a cock.
Can't stand the bloke.

How the fuck any blind illiterate halfwit can blame anyone other than labour is beyond belief.

I'd have liked to see Labour win this election just to see what they'd have done. I bet they're quietly chuffed to bits they lost and both their political enemies have to deal with the backwash ... the perfect scenario I suspect.
Promising a new hospital just before an election was due (and which everyone was resigned to the fact that Labour would lose) was like promising your wife a new car, safe in the knowledge the bailiffs were due the next day.

Without meaning to cause offence, fuck off. I like to consider myself fairly politically neutral but in no possible way can the demise of Hartlepool General be attributed to the Tories or Lib Dems.

Labour told lies, Ian Wright is about as much use as an MP as Chris Turner was as a football manager, the hospital closure decision was taken about 4 years ago.

Russell brand should be his deputy by the way.

And that talking donkey from shrek, the minister of education

I agree, Ian Wright isn't a very good MP, his Arsenal team mates and fans seemed of liked him though

Where is Grave when you need him

I never knew he was blind.

From your location, am I to understand you're resident in Jersey...?

Mr alienlife: No offence taken, but watch the bigger picture unfold.
I sincerely hope you have no elderly relatives requiring long-term care, or kids aspiring to better themselves via higher education. I also assume you must be a banker...

Mr Snowy: Recently moved to the Channel Islands to get away from the Tory hatchet job being done on my part of the world.

what complete and utter cobblers

Had a relative in Hartlepool General last year who was then moved to James Cook, despite costing a small fortune to get to James Cook every day for visiting I wouldn't mourn the loss of Hartlepool General that much. North tees is a bit shite but given the choice between James Cook and Hpool I would pick James Cook everytime.

We were promised a hospital to rival that one by Labour, it didn't materialise because they couldn't afford it. Our MP either lies or avoids answering questions on the subject.

Higher Education isn't the only way to better yourself, and there are shed loads of people swanning about with a chip on their shoulder due to being the proud owner of a 2nd Class BA in Media Studies or Sports Science, allegedly educated people with no idea how the world operates or why their degree won't let them straight into a £30k a year job. Making a few people think about why they are going to uni is no bad thing for the long term future of the country. Less people demanding graduate salaries without having any real skills will work for business.

Well you'd better take seat, .... when you're driving west out of St Helier along the coast road to St Aubin and you pass the hospital, well that hospital is being replaced courtesy of the present government .... and if you're trying to escape the Tories you've just settled in Tory paradise.
I assume your departure will be imminent....?

I don't think this is true. If you think there are degrees whose subject matter isn't worth knowing, that's one thing (though I sometimes wonder if the people who sneer at media studies actually know anything about the subject.) But, whatever the shortfalls of higher education, it's the most efficient way of passing on specialist knowledge to the next generation that we have. What would we do without it? Become a country of ignoramuses?

The other thing is that higher education is also the surest way for working class people (or anyone who doesn't have 'establishment' parents/contacts) to achieve their ambitions. Higher education might not be the only way to better yourself, but it's the only way bar revolution that the non-elite are going to have anywhere near a level playing field. Saying what you're saying, alien, is just giving the Tories carte blanche to carry on with their policy of effectively restricting higher education to those who already have money.

I'm not surprised at that............doesn't that apply to every politician????????????

Mr Snowy - Not sure what your point is with Jersey hospital. My wife is a ward manager there. Should I tell her she's going to be moving? Or do you know something nobody over here on the island is privvy to?

...also, it stinks of banking money, but the local government is fiercely independent of any UK government influence.

Oh, and it's right next to France ;0)

It's not very French. St Heliers full of scousers and Irish..

The islands economy and idyllic lifestyle are based on offshore banking ... and the reason the locals are so 'fiercely independent' of UK governmnet influence, which may be no bad thing.
...but are they as free of banking influence ...?

Well since the financial services sector is the major employer over here, that's a good question.
What I will add, however is that public services are the second biggest employer, with small class sizes in the schools, and far smaller ward sizes in the hospital. (Which, for the record, is smack bang in the middle of St Helier, and nowhere near St Aubins.)

No place is immune from cuts these days, but over here that equates to a handful of senior staff taking voluntary redundancy. No hatchet jobs here.

Garlands is one thing. The Hospital is another.
Agree with Chip about howWright/Drummond etc could have done more re: Garlands but the whole hospital fiasco has to be lain at the door of the strategic health authority & Hartlepool & North Tees Primary Care Trusts.

They're the local planners for NHS provision , not Blair, Brown, Wright, Cameron or Clegg.

The NHS spent millions on planning something which never materialised resulting in much of the work & time being wazzed up the wall.

Surely it's not beyond the wit of Hartlepool & Stockton Councils to try & jointly do some kind of deal with Arriva with a bus running between two hospitals & also serving the two communites in between.

Clearly public transport wouldn't be suitable for some patients due to fraility/mobilty etc but it would help most visitors.

In some areas the NHS even helps subsidise such services so maybe a tri-partite plan between the councils, arriva & the PCTS?

Might be worth bearing in mind the Urgent Care Centre at Peterlee Community Hospital. Not an A & E service but they can offer assistance with quite a few things.

Hope H'Pool Hospital retains as much services as possible.

I've used A & E & had a couple of knee ops there too. Excellent service everytime.