Northumberland MP takes tour around award-winning NHS manufacturing hub

Wansbeck MP Ian Lavery on a tour around the Northumbria Healthcare PPE Manufacturing and Innovation Hub at Seaton Delaval with Sarah Rose, the hub’s Divisonal Director.

Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust’s Manufacturing and Innovation Hub was launched at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic to meet the sudden, growing demand for personal protective equipment (PPE) and other medical equipment.

By May 2020, the Trust was producing isolation gowns and distributing them across the north of England, before expanding to the new 40,000 sq m base at Seaton Delaval.

Officially opened by Prime Minister Boris Johnson in February this year, the facility – which now produces not just gowns but scrubs, theatre hoods, masks, theatre hats and pillows – created 60 jobs and 10 apprenticeships, and has plans to expand.

The site, which was originally being leased, has since been purchased by Northumbria Healthcare to support its ambitious plans for the future.

The latest visitor to take a tour around the hub was Wansbeck MP Ian Lavery.

He said: “I was taken aback at the scale of the operation at this fantastic development which is creating jobs and opportunities right here in Northumberland.

“It was great to learn about everything that’s going on there beyond the production of PPE, from medical records storage to mask recycling and the vast warehousing for equipment for the NHS across the North East and beyond.

Wansbeck MP Ian Lavery with Sarah Rose, the hub’s Divisonal Director.

“I was delighted to chat to some of the staff as well as to find out that hundreds of people could well be employed on the site by next spring.

"I said during the visit that I’d love to visit in five years’ time and see just what has been achieved, because this really feels like the start of something very special.”

Sarah Rose, Northumbria Healthcare’s divisional director for the hub, said: “I was delighted to host one of our local MPs and tell him all about not just what we’ve done through the pandemic up to now, but also our ambitious plans for the future.

“The reason we have included ‘innovation’ in the name of this facility is very much because we see this as the start of the journey.

"It was born out of the dark, early days of the pandemic, but can grow into a lasting legacy for the Trust, county and wider region.”