COUNCILLORS have given the go ahead for a new £30million emergency department to double capacity at a County Durham hospital.

County Durham and Darlington NHS Trust hope the state-of-the-art department at the University Hospital of North Durham will be open in two years.

Professor Chris Gray, the trust’s executive medical director, said: “It’s really, really good news. It means we can provide a facility for the population of Durham which is fit for patients.

“It was built for the population at that time and it has outgrown that. This will enable us to build something that means patients will get a better experience and so will staff.”

The plans were passed unanimously by Durham County Council’s county planning committee, despite some reservations about the impact of the bigger department on traffic in the area.

Highways officer John McGargill said a traffic plan was being created to try and offset the increased number of journeys, which has been estimated at around 100 extra trips at peak times.

He said: “My view has been that we know we have got a saturated network. Any additional traffic will have an impact and will create further queues and delays.

“Even with a small additional amount we will see a significant increase in delays at times.”

Cllr Mike Dixon said: “Hopefully this will add grist to the mill for a western bypass and a northern bypass.

“I think ambulances getting into hospital must be pretty critical, especially to an A&E.”

Prof Gray told the committee the current A&E was designed with a capacity for 30,000 attendances a year but last year had 65,000 attendances.

He added the plans were “future proofed” for the next ten years, with scope to increase capacity by three per cent.

As well as being bigger, the new building, which will include urgent care facilities, will be designed to improve patient flow through the hospital, separate patients with minor injuries from those with more serious ones, and have a bigger paediatric department with its own entrance.

Prof Gray said the proposal was part of longstanding plans to develop emergency departments at both Durham and at Darlington Memorial Hospital.

He said: “This is something we have been doing for a considerable amount of time.

“As an organisation we know we need a bigger unit at Durham and need to develop the site at Darlington.”

The department will be opposite the current building, on the site of Dryburn House, a Grade II listed building which the trust has permission to demolish.

Cllr Paul Taylor said: “Anybody that has been there knows the A&E is under extreme pressure. They are wonderful people there but it isn’t fit for purpose.

“I welcome this application with open arms. I regret we’re going to lose a lovely looking building but I would rather save lives than save a building.”