PLANS to build £8.6m centres for elderly people with mental health problems and mentally disabled people on Teesside have been unveiled.
The units would involve closing the centre at the University Hospital of North Tees in Stockton.
It has previously been proposed that the 106-year-old St Luke's Hospital in Middlesbrough be pulled down and replaced with a number of smaller mental health units as part of a separate £73m plan.
The Stockton mental health centres would be erected at an NHS-owned site on Durham Road in the town.
The plans, which will now go out to public consultation, are part of a wider shake-up proposed for mental health and learning disability services across Teesside.
Other proposals include moving adult and older people's mental health services from the University Hospital of Hartlepool to a purpose-built unit in the town.
It could also mean moving the eight beds from Parkside inpatient unit in Middlesbrough to St Luke's Hospital and converting the unit to provide rehabilitation services.
The consultation begins at Stockton Central Library on Monday, from 10am to 2pm.
Other consultation events will be held at Redcar Bowl on Thursday, January 13, Shotton Hall, Peterlee on Friday, January 14, Middlesbrough Teaching and Learning Centre on Monday, January 24, and Hartlepool Historic Quay on Thursday, January 27.
A website has also been set up on www.peoplelikeus.co. uk
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