A SPECIALIST centre to cater for older mentally ill people is to be opened in Darlington.
The £4m unit is to be part of an expansion to the newly-planned hospital at West Park, Faverdale.
County Durham and Darlington Priority Services NHS Trust, which looks after people who have learning disabilities, health problems or suffered from substance misuse, is spending more than £20m on relocating its services.
The Pierremont Unit in Darlington and The Gables Unit in Sedgefield are to be relocated to the Faverdale site.
The scheme is to be funded through the Government's Private Finance Initiative and includes both in-patient and out-patient facilities for adults, psychiatric intensive care beds and facilities for mothers and babies.
The new wing will replace facilities on the Beaumont ward at Darlington Memorial Hospital and at Faverdale Day Hospital.
Trust chief executive Sandy Taylor said: "The West Park development is an extremely exciting proposal combining state-of-the-art facilities with the development of a new model of care service.
"Older people with mental health problems have very specific needs and we place great importance on that."
The unit will cater for older people from Darlington and Teesdale.
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