A NEW £4.5m general high dependency unit has opened its doors to patients at a North-East hospital.

The development of the 16-bed HDU at the 1,000 bed James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough should allow medical and nursing teams to improve patient safety and incorporates both surgical and general medical HDU beds in one place.

Clinical director of critical care Dr Stephen Bonner said: “This is a massive achievement and reflects how well the surgical and medical teams have worked together, along with everyone else involved in the build, to make this happen.

“Having these critically ill patients cared for in one area by highly trained specialist nurses and a resident doctor immediately available has been shown to save lives, as well as improving the quality of patient care and the whole patient experience.

“The expansion in beds will also minimise the cancellation of major surgery that requires critical care, something which can be extremely distressing to patients and their families, as well as making better use of the ward beds.”

The James Cook University Hospital supports critical life-saving regional services such as the major trauma centre, vascular surgery, neurosurgery and major abdominal surgery.

In terms of outcomes the hospital is already among the best in the country for patients from across the region who require high level critical care.

To mark the opening of the general HDU the Reverend Alan Leighton, a member of the chaplaincy team, carried out a blessing before the first patients were transferred there in the morning.