THE first artist's impression of a multi-million pound health development for Darlington was unveiled yesterday.

The £20m mental health unit is being built on the West Park site, in the Faverdale area.

County Durham and Darlington Priority Services NHS Trust, which will run the unit, has selected Norwich Union Public Private Partnership Fund (NUPPP) as its partner in the Private Finance Initiative scheme.

Representatives of carers, doctors, nurses, managers and support staff have worked closely with NUPPP to develop the design.

It is hoped that construction on the hospital will start in July.

The premises will replace facilities at the Pierremont Unit next to Darlington Memorial Hospital, the Beaumont ward and Faverdale Day Unit, and the Gables Unit at Sedgefield.

They will provide:

* 60 adult acute in-patient rooms, including mother and baby rooms

* 24 single rooms for older people with mental health problems

* 15 complex needs rooms

* ten intensive care rooms

* seven recovery rooms.

There will also be out-patient and day hospital facilities and a range of support services including a dining room, coffee lounge, prayer room and a shop.

The facility will be complemented by a new model of care being developed by senior nurses, which focuses on working in the community and looking after patients in the comfort and security of familiar surroundings.

Trust chairman Jo Turnbull said: "The West Park development is a major scheme and is evidence of our commitment to providing the very best in mental health care to the people of Darlington and South-West Durham."