PATIENTS and equipment are being transferred to a £10m hospital this week, following its completion.

Building work on Chester-le-Street's new community hospital has been finished after more than two years of development.

The hospital, built thanks to the Private Finance Initiative scheme, has 39 beds, four palliative care beds, a children's centre, a day hospital for the elderly, and a pharmacy.

It also has a full range of outpatient clinics which will be opening next week, including radiology, dentistry, foot care, speech and language therapy, as well as a physiotherapy treatment unit with gym.

Special emphasis was placed on the ambience of the building. It was built light, airy and attractive and it also includes a terrace cafe and a courtyard with an ornamental pond. Chester-le-Street Community Hospital has been built on the site of the town's former hospital, a nineteenth century building, which was demolished to make way for the development at the beginning of 2001.

While the new hospital was under construction, patients were cared for in temporary wards at Highfield Hospital off Newcastle Road.

County Durham and Tees Valley NHS Strategic Health Authority spokesman, Xerxes Setna, said: "This week we're starting to transfer patients and ward equipment from the old hospital.

"Next week the outpatients clinic and centres will open and start operating, although we are not having an official opening until we are up and running."

Leader of Chester-le-Street District Council Linda Ebbatson said: "Clearly this is very good news for the town.

"I'm sure both the staff and patients who have been using the Highfield Hospital site will very much welcome the new hospital."

Durham and Chester-le-Street Primary Care Trust and the North East Ambulance Service are also located on the site, with dedicated road access for the two ambulances based there.

As with the old hospital, the centre does not have an accident and emergency unit. But unlike other recently-built, privately financed hospitals, it has not lost out on services.

The new £67m Bishop Auckland General Hospital lost its obstetrics, special care baby unit and paediatric services to Darlington.