THE NHS plans to pump £500,000 into a new school academy in the North-East.

The North Stockton Academy will have a science specialism and health and wellbeing theme.

Union bosses have been largely supportive of the move, with NHS Stockton-on- Tees saying the money is coming from funds set aside for health improvement initiatives and won’t impact on the provision of front-line services.

The academy, which will replace Blakeston School Community Sports College and Norton School Humanities College, will cost more than £16m to build.

It is the first time a primary care trust has been the lead sponsor of an academy in the UK.

Celia Weldon, director of corporate development at NHS Stockton-on-Tees, said: “NHS Stockton aims to totally transform healthcare services and support people to manage their own health in a way never before experienced in our area.”

She added: “NHS Stockton believes the academy will be at the centre of the community’s regeneration, acting as a resource for the whole community to improve the economic and social well-being and therefore delivering the vision for health.”

Liz Twist, Unison’s head of health for the North-East, said: “It is good to see the academy being sponsored by public sector partners. It is an interesting and innovative idea, which could make a difference early in life and affect what happens in the future.

“However, I would have concerns that the money is specifically used to make difference to the well-being of children.

“I also have concerns that it would be at the expense of vital primary health services in the area.”

Kath Toward, a former County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust governor, who resigned after £1m of NHS money was spent on gritting roads last month, believes the scheme is a good idea, providing it has a longterm health benefit.

“It if benefits the students or has an aim to encourage them into nursing or medicine then that’s fine,” she said. “It can’t just be allowed to go into a general pot.”

Parents and staff at the two schools are being asked to give their opinion on the proposals.

If the project is given the go-ahead, the 1,050-place academy, which would be built using Building Schools for the Future funding, would open in September.

Students would move into the new facility, off Norton Road, in September 2013.