HEALTH officials announced a double tonic for the people of Darlington yesterday.

They revealed that work on a dental clinic, due to open later this year, is about to begin.

In addition, a public consultation exercise to find out which services should go into a new primary care centre will also take place over the next three months.

The £1m building, which is to built in King Street, will provide a base for a wide range of medical services and act as a new headquarters for Darlington Primary Care Trust.

Plans to move the community dental service to a new site have won public backing and building work will begin shortly.

The service will move from its outdated premises in Archer Street to the refurbished Parkgate Clinic, in Park Place.

The trust voted in favour of the move after hearing the results of a public consultation exercise which surveyed patients, professionals and other bodies.

It is hoped that the centre, which will also be re-equipped, will be ready to take its first patients before the end of the year.

Carole Harder, the trust's director of primary care, said: "We are very pleased with the response we have had from the consultation and we are very pleased that people are supporting the move."

The primary care centre, being developed in tandem with the dental services project, will house specialist doctors, district nurses, health visitors, school nurses and administrative staff.

A lease on the building is expected to be signed within the next week. Technical consultants on the project, including architects and surveyors, have been appointed.

Day care surgery will be offered for a variety of conditions, including minor surgery and treatment for skin conditions. The centre is expected to deal with 1,200 procedures a year.

The trust is now turning its attention to discovering which other services the public would like to see in the centre.

Information leaflets and posters are being distributed and a series of community focus groups and public meetings will be held over the coming weeks.

For further details on the consultation process, contact Darlington Primary Care Trust on (01325) 744726