Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust is highlighting the role of its £32 million Emergency Care Centre (ECC) at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in helping people in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear receive treatment more quickly. The investment funded the ECC, which opened to patients in August 2015, and has been a central part of the Trust’s urgent care model.
The ECC brings several services together under one roof — including the accident and emergency department, a walk-in centre, medical and surgical assessment areas and urgent children’s services — with a single point of entry so patients can be triaged and directed to the most appropriate specialist as quickly as possible. Dr Paul Egdell, Consultant in Emergency Medicine at QE Gateshead, has described the centre’s design as combining those services under one roof to improve patient flow and clinical responsiveness.
Gateshead Health Charity (the Trust’s rebranded charitable fund) supports the hospital by raising money for equipment and staff welfare that do not fall within the standard NHS budgets. Recent charity-funded projects have included purchases of specialist clinical equipment and funding to support staff wellbeing facilities and rest spaces.
According to the Trust’s Annual Report 2023/24 and local NHS announcements, the Trust has also expanded diagnostic capacity off-site. The Metrocentre Community Diagnostic Centre opened in October 2024 and is intended to deliver scans and tests outside the acute hospital site, helping to reduce pressure on the ECC by giving non-emergency diagnostic patients an alternative location for imaging and other tests.
The Trust says it is pursuing further improvements into 2026, including a digital strategic plan and work toward an acute clinical electronic patient record (EPR) to reduce reliance on paper records. The Trust indicates that a successful EPR procurement and implementation would make patient information easier and quicker for clinicians to find, which in turn should support faster decision-making and could help reduce waiting times.
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