PLANS for a £500m super hospital which could be the “envy of the country” will be submitted today.

North Tees Hospital in Stockton, and Hartlepool General Hospital, would be scrapped in favour of a singlesite facility at Wynyard, near Hartlepool.

The hospital, which is expected to be completed in spring 2015, will treat patients from Hartlepool, Stockton, Sedgefield and Easington.

The building, providing 568 general and acute beds, is part of the NHS “Momentum: pathways to healthcare” programme.

It aims to create a health system in which much more care is provided in or near patients’ homes. Only treatment that needs hospital care would be carried out there.

Kevin Oxley, director of operations at North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The submission of this planning application to Hartlepool Borough Council is a very exciting milestone on the way to building a world-class health service for our area.

“The hospital will provide a modern healthcare facility which will be the envy of the region, if not the country.”

The short-listed sites at Wynyard Business Park and Green Farm, Wolviston, came out top in an independent assessment of ten potential locations.

The land at Wynyard was eventually chosen. It is on the A689, between Sedgefield and Billingham, and opposite the exclusive Wynyard village housing estate.

Hartlepool councillor Geoff Lilley, of the Save Our Hospital campaign, said its remote location was a major stumbling block for patients reliant on public transport.

“Some of the worst areas of deprivation are furthest away from where this new hospital will be built,” he said.

“I have no doubt that it will provide an excellent healthcare facility but you are taking it away from the people that need it on their doorstep most and I still strongly object to that.

“Discussions about the site for the new facility have been held since 2003, but they have yet to come up with a solution to the transport issue.”

Other sites now out of the running for the new hospital include Queens Meadow Business Park and Golden Flatts, in Hartlepool, as well as Portrack Lane and the North Shore, in Stockton.