Trauma

The unit is open seven days a week, 365 days a year and our highly skilled doctors, senior doctors, nurses and therapists will work together to give you the very best and safest care.

We ensure our team is working to the highest national standards so that you can be assured we are providing the very best and safest care possible, designed to give you the best chance of a good recovery from your fall or accident.

Our accident and emergency colleagues will take care of you when you arrive in the department, then they will transfer you to the trauma ward.

Every morning our trauma team meets to see who has had falls or accidents and work out who needs surgery first. Once this has been decided we will talk to you about this so you know when you are being taken to theatre, though things can change if operations take longer than expected so we need to be flexible about the actual times.

Once you are well enough to leave hospital we will invite you back to our trauma clinic which is held in our orthopaedic outpatients department. We have trauma clinics at the University Hospital of Hartlepool and the University Hospital of North Tees so we should be able to see you at your nearest hospital. We will discuss this with you.

If you have had a fall you will meet our highly skilled fracture liaison nurse. They will talk to you about osteoporosis, because this condition may have been the cause of your fall. You may also meet a consultant physician in elderly care medicine who will talk to you about any other medical condition which might have caused you to fall, such as dizziness or a temporary blackout. If this is found to be the case he can refer you for an additional assessment to see if any treatment can be given to keep you safe in the future.

If you live in Hartlepool, Easington or the surrounding areas and you would rather recover nearer home, it may be possible to transfer you to our Holdforth Unit at the University Hospital of Hartlepool once our doctors are happy that you are recovering as expected. There our team of nurses and therapists will take care of you until you are well enough to go home.