THE first of a new generation of medical super-scanners has arrived in the North-East.

Bosses at the private Woodlands Hospital, in Darlington, say they are the first in the North to provide Positron Emission Tomography (Pet) scanning facilities.

The million-pound scanners can provide doctors with an incredible amount of detail, helping specialists to decide on the best course of treatment.

Pet scanners, which rely on advances in nuclear science, have proved invaluable in determining whether a growth is cancerous, or whether a cancer has spread to other parts of the body.

Next summer, the NHS has plans to site mobile Pet scanners at The James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough, and at one of the main Newcastle hospitals.

At the moment, NHS patients from the region must travel to London to have Pet scans, but that is likely to change with the opening of a large static scanner in Nottingham, which is being leased to the NHS.

Suresh Sivagnanam, chief executive of Woodlands Hospital, said: "We are delighted to be offering this valuable diagnostic tool to patients in the region, and are working closely with consultants and local NHS trusts to ensure the best possible service for patients."

June Tulley, the director of the Cancer Care Alliance, a network of NHS cancer doctors and nurses across County Durham, Tees Valley and North Yorkshire, said negotiations are under way to give North-East patients access to Pet scans at the NHS-run unit in Nottingham.

"There are only a small number of slots available at the Woodland Hospital so most of our patients will be referred to Nottingham," she said.

If some patients are too ill to travel to Nottingham they may be referred to the Darlington mobile scanner, she added.

It is understood that patients in north Durham, Tyneside, Wearside and Northumberland will continue to be referred to London for Pet scans until the North-East NHS scanners open next summer.