South Tyneside and Sunderland

NHS Foundation Trust

On 1 April 2019, South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust was created following the merger of City Hospitals Sunderland and South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trusts. We are now one of the largest NHS Trusts in the North East of England. We have an annual turnover of over £750m. Our Trust has more than 8,000 staff who provide acute hospital and community-based healthcare services. These support a population of around half a million people.

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Trust Sites

1. South Tyneside District Hospital
2. Sunderland Eye Infirmary
3. Sunderland Royal Hospital
4. Durham Treatment Centre
5. Palmer Community Hospital (Jarrow)
6. Clarendon (Jarrow)
7. Sunderland Children’s Centre
8. St Benedict’s Hospice (Ryhope)
9. Haven Court, South Tyneside

The 2024 GMC trainee survey given an overall satisfaction rate of 80%, while our clinical supervision was given a 90% rating.

What we provide at South Tyneside and Sunderland Hospitals

Through our #OneTeamOneTrust approach we work together to ensure that patient care is at the heart of everything we do.

We are proud of what we do and the fact that 94% of our patients are likely to recommend our services. We offer a range of highly specialist services to patients not only from across South Tyneside and Sunderland but the wider North East, including:

  • Community healthcare services to people living across South Tyneside, Sunderland and Gateshead
  • Acute hospital services to people living in South Tyneside, Sunderland and parts of North Durham
  • Specialist hospital services to wider regional population with people coming to us from all over the North East, including audiology, bariatrics, cardiology, head and neck surgery, haematology, neonatal, neurology, ophthalmology, orthodontics, renal medicine, spinal service, urology and vascular

We are proud of what we do and the fact that 96% of our patients are likely to recommend our services. Our latest CQC inpatient survey rated their experience as 7.9 out of 10. Our Maternity services has been rated among the best in the NHS. Patients have given our A&E services in Sunderland high ratings for privacy and interactions with doctors and nurses. They also praised our and support after leaving the unit. At South Tyneside, patients singled out good communication from the team and respect and dignity. We work closely with the University of Sunderland’s School of Medicine to help bring on the next generation of doctors. The first graduates are now caring for our patients, with increasing numbers of students now undergoing their training through the school. We also have excellent links with Newcastle University’s School of Medicine.

Our specialties:

We lead the region’s only standalone hospital. In 2026, we will move from Sunderland Eye Infirmary in Queen Alexandra Road to a new purpose build eye hospital in Sunderland city centre. It will help us develop our services and continue to treat patients from across the North East and beyond. It will also support our outstanding reputation for research. It will also offer greater opportunities to lead and take part in studies.
It offers a wider range of treatments than other hospitals. These include an ocular oncology service and corneal procedures. It has a 24/7 A&E department and its Cataract Treatment Centre is identified as a Centre of Excellence.

  • Sunderland Eye Infirmary is the region’s specialist eye hospital and a regional centre of excellence for ophthalmology (add link) services.
  • Our specialist services at Sunderland Eye Infirmary include a Cataract Treatment Centre, Glaucoma Unit and a Macular Unit, providing specialist care for thousands of people across the North East and beyond who have eye related health problems.
  • Sunderland Royal Hospital is one of three tertiary centres in the region providing specialist services, such as vascular surgery to over 860,000 people across the North East and beyond.
  • We also provide many specialist in reach services from South Tyneside District and Durham Treatment Centre including ophthalmology and renal medicine.

Recent new developments:

  • • A new £3 million Intensive Care Unit at South Tyneside District Hospital. This mirrors the setup of our Integrated Critical Care Unit at Sunderland Royal Hospital.
  • A £1 million revamp of a Cardiac Catheterisation lab at Sunderland, giving the Cardiology Team access to two updated rooms
  • A new Investigation and Intervention Unit (IIU) offers outpatient treatments and tests. It is run from its own dedicated, tailored space.
  • New pharmacy robots at both acute hospitals, helping our teams support inpatient and outpatient care
  • Endoscopy teams at both sites have been hailed as among the best in the UK by the Royal College of Physicians
  • Our Renal specialists lead the country’s first Interventional Nephrology PGCert course. This is run alongside Newcastle University. The unit is one of a handful of International Society of Nephrology (ISN) training centre in the country
  • Its Neonatal Unit is the only one in the region to offer dedicated on-site
  • A newly kitted out vascular theatre, which has seen £1 million invested into its technology, making it the first in the country to use the Allia IGS 740 Hybrid Operating Room (OR) system
  • Sunderland Royal Hospital was the first in the region to gain the national Global Digital Exemplar* (GDE) programme
  • Chemotherapy / infusion treatment unit
  • Dedicated urology and renal treatment centres
  • World-class adult and children’s emergency departments – the first to be paper free at the point of care
  • 3D Da Vinci robot used in a range of specialities
  • Development of a new endovascular theatre – the first phase of our new specialist vascular unit
  • £5.4 million Durham Treatment Centre
  • Multi-disciplinary Sunderland recovery at home service, offering nursing visits, therapy and treatment 24/7
  • £9million Haven Court – a centre for excellence integrated health and social care for elderly patients
  • £1.4million surgical centre at South Tyneside District Hospital
  • One of 18 Trusts nationally to be awarded Global Digital Exemplar status and are helping to lead the digital transformation of the NHS.

Some of our outstanding facilities

• Two 3D Da Vinci robots used across a series of specialities
• Chemotherapy / infusion treatment unit
• Day of surgery admission unit, with the new eye hospital to get its own dedicated service with each patient to get their own recovery room
• Dedicated Urology and Renal units
• Centralised pre-admission assessment clinic
• World-class adult and children’s emergency departments – the first to be paper free at the point of care
• Dedicated bariatric out-patient unit

Why work for us?

We are a values based organisation that has a strong culture of openness and honesty and very much values every member of staff. We are a large teaching hospital with close links to our local universities.

Our team is the backbone of our organisation and ensures that we provide safe, high quality patient care and excellent patient experience. Working with us you will be fully supported, but encouraged to develop your skills and knowledge with the help of our experienced and friendly team.

We have a highly enthusiastic and experienced faculty of trainers who ensure a balanced workload and encourage trainees to develop autonomy with appropriate support. Learning and teaching are integrated into service provision providing trainees with numerous opportunities to acquire practical experience.

Educational opportunities across both sites are open to trainees at both of our hospitals, and training posts have been integrated where there has been potential to improve quality.

We have a long standing ‘train the trainers’ programme, which is mapped to the new GMC requirement for trainers. We were also involved in the successful bid to develop a new medical school at the University of Sunderland.

 

Simulation training

STSFT is one of the few Trusts to use SIM training in the region. Our trainees have access to first-class simulation training from our dedicated simulation suites. We also have access to University of Sunderland’s wonderful simulation facility and immersive suite.

First class research and innovation

We have a dedicated research and innovation team who support and develop ideas. The  award winning work of our team is renowned regionally, nationally and internationally and many of our colleagues are involved in wider projects and sit on national and international boards and councils

Gold standard Armed Forces Friendly employer

We hold the gold award from the Ministry of Defence for the work we do to support colleagues who are involved, or want to be involved with the armed forces and have also signed the Armed Forces Covenant.

Unique opportunities

We offer our trainees a unique and valuable opportunity to undertake clinical programmes in Walawalkar Hospital in Dervan, on India’s west coast, as part of our partnership with SVJC charitable trust. The main purpose of the trips to Walawalkar Hospital is to educate, perform and assist surgical procedures as well as check medical equipment to improve patient safety in the hospital. Funds raised for SVJC Charitable Trust support some of the air travel costs and shipments of donated equipment.   

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What our doctors say

“Sunderland is very supportive with good learning opportunities.”

“I have thoroughly enjoyed my time as a trainee at Sunderland Royal Hospital.”

“I have really enjoyed my time at Sunderland. Moving from the south to a new area was daunting, however everyone has been so friendly and supportive that I couldn’t have wished for a smoother transition.”

“Great clinical supervisor, very proactive, takes an interest in ensuring e-portfolio requirements are met.”

“Excellent Educational Supervisor, very thorough and supportive.”