NORTH-EAST health bosses have played down fears that the credit crunch could delay plans for a new ‘super-hospital’ in the region.

Reports in The Times newspaper yesterday claimed that projects worth billons of pounds and involving more than 100 hospitals and schools have been delayed or are on hold.

It follows research by Glenigan, an intelligence unit which monitors the construction industry, indicating that nearly £2.4bn worth of health and education projects are affected because it is proving difficult to obtain enough private finance to allow the schemes to go ahead.

All of the major hospital building projects in the North-East in the last decade, including the construction of a replacement for Bishop Auckland General Hospital, the new University Hospital of North Durham and the current redevelopment of the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle have been under the Government’s Private Finance Initiative.

This involves the private sector funding the construction of new NHS hospitals in return for annual payments for, typically, 30 years.

The next major hospital building project planned for the North-East is the 700 bed new ‘super-hospital’ due to open at Wynyard, between Hartlepool and Stockton.

Intended to be the ultra-modern replacement for Stockton’s University Hospital of North Tees and the University Hospital of Hartlepool, the new centre is due to open in 2014.

However, senior officials at the North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust made it clear that they were not anticipating any difficulties with the new project.

Trust chief executive Alan Foster said: "We are seeking public funding for the scheme so it should be unaffected by the current recession which is squeezing the banks.

"The new hospital, which is part of the momentum: pathways to healthcare programme, was identified as a priority so we are hopeful of an early decision on funding."