The James Cook University Hospital
ONE OF Europe’s most modern hospitals, The James Cook University site in Middlesbrough is the largest of its type with a wide range of district general hospital services and specialist (tertiary) services including neurosurgery, renal medicine, spinal injuries, major trauma, vascular surgery and cancer services.
The site has a modern, central operating suite containing 19 well-equipped theatres, with two recovery areas, which is next to an adult surgical day unit (containing a further three theatres) and the paediatric day unit. A 16-bedded intensive care unit is across the corridor. Two additional theatres for gynaecology and obstetrics are in the central delivery suite and two more in the ophthalmology (eye) day unit.
The accident and emergency department on-site is the designated regional trauma centre for Teesside, South Durham and North Yorkshire and the hospital has a dedicated 24-hour acute admissions unit.
There is a 21-room imaging department equipped with the latest technology, a trust-wide PACS system and a purpose built six-bed radiology day unit. A medical physics department is also on this site together with isotope imaging.
The central clinical laboratory provides a comprehensive pathology service with electronic links to wards and departments and electronic requesting is being piloted.
The hospital caters for just over 5,000 deliveries in purpose-built delivery and low dependency suites. The birth rate is increasing. Fetal medicine and high dependency delivery referrals are accepted.
We have a regional tertiary neonatal intensive care unit looking after babies locally and further afield and support a neonatal transport service. Any babies born at the Friarage Hospital requiring intensive care are transferred to this unit.
There is an established academic centre embracing postgraduate medical education, nurse training school, the school of radiography and library facilities. It encompasses two large lecture theatres with the latest audio-visual aids and a considerable number of classrooms and seminar rooms, including ward facilities for teaching and examining. There is a new library with comprehensive IT suite.
A dedicated undergraduate teaching centre has been commissioned recently and there are plans to have a dedicated simulation-training centre on site in the near future.
University hospital status
We have strong links with the Universities of Newcastle and Durham. The southern campus for the University of Newcastle and Durham Medical Schools pre-clinical teaching programme is now located locally in a purpose built campus at Stockton-on-Tees. As a university hospital, we do teaching and training and have a new clinical sciences research facility.
There are now 15 clinical professorial posts across the trust with honorary chairs at the Universities of Durham and Teesside. There is one established Chair in Clinical Medicine at the University of Newcastle or Durham. Consultants interested, or able to purse an active research programme, are also eligible for honorary appointment at any of its partner universities. It is expected many consultants will soon achieve clinical lecturer status in the University of Durham in recognition of their input into undergraduate medical education.