Tameside Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Tameside General Hospital
Tameside Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
The original hospital building on Darnton Road
Geography
Location	Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, United Kingdom
Organisation
Care system	Public NHS
Hospital type	District General
Services
Emergency department	Yes Accident & Emergency
History
Founded	1861
Links
Website	www.tamesidehospital.nhs.uk
Lists	Hospitals in England
Other links	[1][2]

Tameside General Hospital is a National Health Service (NHS) hospital situated in Ashton-under-Lyne. Run by Tameside Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, it serves the surrounding area of Tameside in Greater Manchester, and the town of Glossop in Derbyshire. Employing just under 2,500 staff, the hospital provides a wide array of healthcare one would associate with general hospitals, including Accident and Emergency services, and full consultant-led obstetric and paediatric hospital services for women, children and babies.

Tameside Hospital has been around in one form or another since its foundation in 1861 by founders Samuel Oldham and Henry Darnton. Oldham's stated intention in founding Ashton District Infirmary was to create an institution "for the relief and cure of sick and indigent persons resident, employed, or having been employed within 3½ miles of Ashton Town Hall." After its formation a separate workhouse was built nearby.

Upon the formation of the NHS in 1948, the old hospital joined with the buildings of the old workhouse to form the new Ashton-under-Lyne General Hospital, now dedicated to fulfilling the NHS's ideals of providing healthcare to all, regardless of ability to pay. The hospital changed its name to Tameside General Hospital in 1976, following the establishment of Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council in 1974 and over the following decades new buildings were built to provide better standards of care for local people.

Paul Connellan was appointed Chair of the Trust in November 2011

The trust was loaned more than £14m by the Department of Health in 2014, and needs a £25m loan in 2015 to keep paying staff and suppliers. It expects a deficit of £25.8 million for 2015/6.

In 2005 the hospital received the maximum three star rating from the Healthcare Commission in recognition of the quality of its services, and was granted Foundation Trust status on 1 February 2008. However, in 2009 it was identified as having the third highest mortality rate in England. In July 2013 The Guardian newspaper disclosed the existence of two previously unpublished critical reviews commissioned by the hospital which revealed concerns about chronic under-staffing and sub-standard care. Christine Green, the chief executive, and Dr Tariq Mahmood, the hospital's medical director, both resigned as a result of the disclosure.