A LAW firm has helped the North-East become one of the first areas in the country to open pioneering health centres.

Property healthcare experts at Newcastle-based Ward Hadaway have advised NHS trusts on four “walk-in” health facilities on Teesside, modelled on recommendations from Health Minister Lord Darzi.

The GP-led centres will be open seven days a week and will enable people not registered with a GP to get access to advice and treatment.

The first of the centres on which Ward Hadaway has advised – the Resolution Health Centre at North Ormesby Health Village, Middlesbrough – has already opened and will treat patients from 8am to 8pm, 365 days a year.

Ward Hadaway advised NHS Middlesbrough on the scheme, which was officially opened by Health Secretary Alan Johnson.

Keith Wilkinson, associate in the property healthcare team at Ward Hadaway, said: “These new health centres are designed to bring a real change in the way people get access to family doctor services.

“This is real cutting-edge healthcare, so we are delighted to have been given the chance to play a part in the clinics’ creation.

“We have worked closely with the health professionals on all these schemes and built up some excellent partnerships which will hopefully help make a real difference to healthcare in the region.”

In addition to the Resolution Health Centre, Ward Hadaway is advising on three other clinics due to open during the course of this year.

The firm helped NHS Redcar and Cleveland on a clinic, which is initially operating from premises in Queen Street, South Bank, near Middlesbrough.

Work is under way for the clinic eventually to find a permanent home in Low Grange Health Village in South Bank.

Also for NHS Redcar and Cleveland, Ward Hadaway is advising on the arrangements for a walk-in clinic at Skelton Health Centre, due to open in July following the refurbishment of the existing buildings.

Finally, the firm is advising NHS Middlesbrough on similar arrangements involving the refurbishment of premises at Park End, in Middlesbrough, in time for a clinic to open in July.

The latest contracts build on assistance the firm’s commercial team have undertaken to assist other NHS organisations in tendering for Darzi health centre opportunities.

The firm’s team has worked on projects worth more than £600m over the past year, advising clients from the North-East to London.