Call for end to criticism of hospital

Dr Brian Docherty, a Durham City GP for 30 years, said now that the new University Hospital of North Durham was fully open it was time to back the management and staff.

The privately-financed 520-bed hospital has attracted much criticism because it has about 30 fewer beds than the run-down Dryburn Hospital it replaced.

There was also controversy about charging patients £20 a week for private bedside television, a service which is being introduced in all NHS hospitals.

But Dr Docherty said it was time for critics to recognise the "huge improvement" in the quality of the accommodation and give the new hospital the chance to prove itself.

"I would like to think by the middle of next year things will have bedded in.

"We have waited a long time for this hospital and people have worked like demons," said Dr Docherty, who is acting chairman of the County Durham and Darlington Authority.

The £97m hospital opened after a major logistical operation last weekend.

Visitors are likely to be impressed by the gleaming new main entrance, housed in a striking drum-shaped building topped by a stylish circular restaurant.

Staff spent three days transferring into the new wing, which includes outpatient clinics and a plastic surgery unit.

The move means that all clinical facilities are under one roof, paving the way for the eventual demolition of much of the old hospital.

Steven Mason, chief executive of the North Durham NHS Trust, said the emphasis was now to work with the health authority and local GPs to try to improve the hospital's capacity.

Because it is likely to take a minimum of three years to build new wards - possibly in partnership with the private sector - the trust would be concentrating on better management of patients before and after their treatment, to free more beds, he said.

Last month, Mr Mason told health officials that the shortage of capacity at the hospital was making it difficult to meet waiting list targets