THE region's newest hospital is admitting its first patients today.

The long-awaited £8m Sedgefield Community Hospital has opened on the edge of the village, replacing a dilapidated facility.

The outdated hospital, consisting of prefabricated huts, had been in use since the Second World War and was considered substandard for modern health care.

There has been talk of a new hospital in Sedgefield for more than 20 years, and today the dream will finally become a reality when the first patients are transferred into the new building.

The 42-bed hospital, serving the whole of the Sedgefield borough, will provide elderly care beds and a mental health care services, as well as a range of other services.

Doug Wardle, charge nurse in mental health services for County Durham and Darlington Priority Services NHS Trust, knows better than most what difference the changes will make. There has been a member of his family employed at the community hospital for the past 45 years.

He said: "It is massively long overdue and now that it is here, everybody can't wait to start nursing patients in a more appropriate environment. There has been a lot of money spent over the years upgrading the services, but you could never get away from what it was - old Army huts.

"The new hospital is going to be a fantastic environment to work in. It is spacious, everything is new and we won't be constantly fixing second-hand equipment."

Sister Ann Cairns said patients and staff were excited about the move.

She said: "Most of the GP patients live in this area. They have been waiting for the new hospital for a long time, and they cannot wait to transfer."

Alan Gray, chairman of Sedgefield Primary Care Trust, which owns and manages the new hospital, paid tribute to everyone involved in the move.

He said: "Sedgefield Community Hospital as a building outlived its usefulness and it should have been demolished years ago."