WORK has started on a £5.4m health centre aimed at making specialist services more accessible to people in County Durham.

The new diagnostic and treatment centre, on the outskirts of Durham city, will be providing specialist services which are currently accessed at Sunderland Royal Hospital and Sunderland Eye Infirmary.

Ken Bremner, chief executive of City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We have provided specialist services to people in Durham for a long time and we’ve always asked residents to go over to Sunderland for outpatient appointments.

“This is something we have wanted to do for 10 years so it’s been a long time coming. It’s exciting to be seeing diggers on the site.

The 2,500m2 unit, which is on the Belmont Industrial Estate, is due to open in spring 2018.

It will provide services including renal dialysis, ophthalmology and day surgery as well as outpatient clinics for urology, nephrology and ENT patients.

Mr Bremner added: “This facility will not only provide a range of key services in much closer proximity to Durham, but it will allow us to expand and improve those services for the benefit of many of our patients who currently have to travel to Sunderland to receive the care they need.”

Urology consultant surgeon Ben Jenkins said: “This is going to be a unit where we can get as much done as possible on one visit which is what people want.

“Ten years ago we weren’t really thinking about that sort of thing. It’s good to be able to use the good things we have seen elsewhere when we have been designing this.

“I think it will be great for patients.”

The dialysis unit is aimed at improving capacity to deal with increasing numbers of patients, which is growing by about seven per cent a year.

In addition to the new dialysis unit, there will also be a daycase theatre, recovery area, outpatient procedure room, consultation rooms and X-ray facilities.

The project is being delivered by developer Ashley House, Esh Build, and funders Assura PLC, a health care investment company.

Ashley House commercial director Jonathan Holmes said: “As a social developer we have worked closely with the trust and its clinicians to ensure we are delivering an innovative facility helping local people access the highest quality services closer to home.”

It is anticipated that there will never be more than 30 members of staff working at the centre at a time.

It will be accessed via Broomside Lane and will have a 98-space car park.