A NEW era of healthcare will be launched in Darlington tomorrow with the opening of a £2m walk-in centre.

The ground floor of Dr Piper House, Darlington Primary Care Trust's (PCT) headquarters in King Street, has been converted to provide the facility.

The centre, which officially opens to the public on Saturday, is aiming to provide an innovative approach to meeting people's health needs.

It is one of only three such facilities in the North, the others being in Newcastle and York. MP Alan Milburn will perform the opening ceremony.

The centre will treat patients in nurse-led clinics, from 7am to 10pm during the week and 9am to 10pm at weekends.

Staffed by a matron, senior sister, six nurses, three healthcare assistants, three emergency care practitioners and ten reception staff, it will offer an array of services without the need for an appointment.

It will work alongside Darlington's 11 GP practices and the Memorial Hospital's accident and emergency unit.

The facility will also eventually deal with booked appointments for chronic disease management, including ailments such as asthma and diabetes and offer retinal and foot screening.

Complementary therapies, health promotion and a variety of counselling services will also have a home in the centre.

There will be operating suites for minor surgery and skin services, which the PCT has been running since last year.

PCT chairman Sandra Pollard said: "I am so pleased that we are able to open the walk-in centre, which we expect will add greatly to the opportunities for quick and accessible treatment for everyone."

Patients are greeted by receptionists at a desk which is fitted with a closed-loop system for people with hearing impairment.

Anyone with sensory impairment will also be encouraged to make it known and be given extra help. Those who feel they need more privacy to talk to the receptionist can go into a consulting room.

Also in the reception area is the Patient and Liaison Advice Service.

Any given shift in the walk-in centre will be staffed by three nurses, an emergency care practitioner and a health care assistant.

One of the rooms is equipped especially for children, with brightly coloured tables and chairs.

There will a phlebotomy service, for withdrawal of blood, between 7am and 9am.

Other treatment rooms can be used for complementary therapies, wound care and continence and the management of long-term conditions.

There will be retinal screening, a diabetic specialist nurse and nurses who specialise in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

The centre is named after Darlington's first appointed medical officer, Stephen Edward Piper, who died in 1894.

After Darlington achieved its borough status in 1867, he served in the position until his retirement in 1882.

When William Ranger, the superintending inspector of the General Board of Health conducted an inquiry into the "sewerage, drainage, and supply of water, and the sanitary condition of the inhabitants of the town of Darlington" in February 1850, Dr Piper gave evidence and provided "voluminous and highly significant statements".

Mainly as a result of Dr Piper's reports, Darlington's first hospital was established, public baths were opened, the cattle market was removed from the centre of the town, a park was laid out, the River Skerne was cleansed and a municipal cemetery opened.