OFFICIALS from the North-East's largest trade union will call on MPs to halt the use of private finance in the NHS when they give evidence today.

Members of the House of Commons Select Committee are holding an open session at the University Hospital of North Durham (UHND) as part of their inquiry into the role of the private sector in the NHS.

The £97m Durham hospital has attracted controversy since it opened in April.

Bosses reject claims that Private Finance Initiative (PFI) funding has cut staffing budget, but they have admitted that they have had teeth-ing troubles.

While they acknowledge there are too few beds to cope with current demand, they argue that this is due to the time-lag between planning and building the new hospital.

Robin Moss, head of health in the North-East for the union Unison, said PFI hospitals at Durham and Carlisle had too few beds, had cut budgets and cancelled operations.

"We will ask the Select Committee to call for a moratorium on the use of the Private Finance Initiative in the NHS, that public money should be used to fund future new developments, and that services and staff should not be handed over to the private sector in PFI schemes," said Mr Moss.

But Steven Mason, chief executive of North Durham Health Care NHS Trust, said: "I look forward to showing the members of the Select Committee the huge improvements that have been made here for patients and staff.

" Until a few months ago we were struggling to provide 21st Century care in a temporary Second World War emergency medical unit. Now, we have an excellent new hospital, built on schedule and on budget."

The Select Committee hearing begins at 3pm in the Education Centre common room, East Wing Corridor, UHND.

The visit comes only days after the announcement that the NHS Appointments Commission is not re-appoint-ing Kevin Earley, a Labour councillor from Consett, to the £19,000 three-day-a-week post as chairman of the North Durham Healthcare Trust.

The commission has instead sent out letters to potential successors.

Staff and managers within the trust are shocked and disappointed by the move, and local MPs have criticised it.

North Durham Labour MP Kevan Jones said Mr Earley had done a "first-rate job" but upset powerful people.

Mr Earley, who has spoken candidly about the new hospital's troubles, says he wants to know why the commission thinks he did not do the job properly.

The commission has said it felt the trust's best interests would be served by open competition for the post