HEALTH officials are finalising details to lease a former pub and turn it into a £1m surgery.

The disused Blacketts public house will become a three-storey one-stop-shop for patients in Darlington.

As well as medical practices, the building will become the headquarters of the Darlington Primary Care Trust (PCT) and more than 150 staff will work there, including doctors, district and school nurses, child health development officers and trust office workers.

For the first time in Darlington, patients will be able to get walk-in-walk-out NHS treatments for a variety of conditions, including minor surgery and the treatment of skin conditions.

If the surgeries prove popular, the centre could expand to offer treatments including the removal of varicose veins and other specialist treatments.

The clinic, which is close to the town centre, will also provide facilities for disadvanatged communities such as asylum seekers, homeless people and the travelling population who may not be able to to get to a doctor.

Other services being considered are a GP out-of-hours centre, specialist nurses for osteoporosis, coronary heart disease, asthma and diabetes, counselling for people with mental health problems, a young persons' clinic, complementary medicine and occupational health.

Director of primary care Carole Harder said she hoped the surgery would be copied by other trusts across the country.

She said: "We are trying to design the most flexible centre possible. We are trying to develop a model for all PCTs."

Before the final services are decided, there will be extensive consultation with public and patient groups to ensure people get what they want from the surgery, which is expected to carry out 1,200 procedures a year.

Officials hope it will be so successful it will have a positive impact on hospital waiting lists.