HOSPITAL bosses have been told they need to spend £250,000 to bring sterilisation facilities up to date.

A report by experts has shown that the University Hospital of North Tees, in Stockton, is failing the Government's new, higher standards for ensuring all medical equipment is sterilised after use.

The hospital has been given a red traffic light designation which means that immediate action is needed to upgrade facilities.

Yesterday, the board of North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Trust was expected to back an action plan.

Work to modify the existing temperature monitoring systems on the North Tees hospital's central decontamination processing unit has already been completed, according to a report.

The next stage is to carry out significant alterations to the unit's ventilation and air condiitioning system and to the physical layout of the decontamination unit.

It is expected that the work will take two weeks. During this period all decontamination services will be provided by the University Hospital of Hartlepool.

Management has also had to spend £100,000 on a new set of medical instruments, which can be used during the closure and decommissioning of sterilising equipment in the main operating theatre suite and the hospital's day case unit.

Bosses at the Teesside trust will have to bid for a share in Northern and Yorkshire region's modernisation fund of £6.26m for the current financial year, and £18.7m for 2002-2003.

Earlier this year, South Durham Health Care NHS Trust announced that £600,000 would have to be invested in improving sterilisation services.

It followed complaints from a local GP that a surgeon from Darlington Memorial Hospital had suspended all operations after finding blood and tissue on supposedly clean surgical instruments.

A spokeswoman said the situation had improved and the hospital's status was currently amber on the way to becoming green.