PLANS for two healthcare facilities worth £41m have reached an important milestone.

Grosvenor House Group has been selected by the NHS as the group "minded to be appointed preferred bidder" to develop a mental health hospital in Durham and a purpose-built health centre in Stanley.

The selection was made after assessments by NHS, which included obtaining the views of clinicians, service users and local authorities.

Grosvenor House Group achieved the highest score in the process, and the recommendation to select the consortium was approved by Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Trust and County Durham Primary Care Trust boards.

The £24m Lanchester Road Hospital, in Durham, which is due to be completed in 2009, will replace the outdated County Hospital, in Durham, and Allensford Ward, at the Derwent Clinic, in Shotley Bridge.

The 76-bed hospital is being designed to provide a safe, homely and therapeutic environment, and will include accommodation and services for adults with mental health problems as well as people with learning disabilities.

Con Egan, chief executive for Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Trust, said: "This is a significant step forward for this important project, which will provide local people with the high standard of mental health facilities they deserve.

"We are now looking forward to working with Grosvenor House Group and further developing our plans for this much-needed new hospital."

In Stanley, the primary care trust will bring services under one roof in a modern £17m health centre.

The facility, which is to be built in the centre of the town, will be home to community, children's and young people's services as well as outpatient and diagnostic clinics and voluntary services.

Pat Taylor, of County Durham Primary Care Trust, said: "We are pleased with the progress being made.

"We believe it will result in an excellent new health facility that will be a benefit to the people of Stanley."

Peter Copley, the managing director of the Grosvenor House Group, said: "Our experienced team is committed to designing and building only the highest quality to support the best care for local people in the future, and we look forward to seeing these progress further."