THE region's first privately-run NHS treatment centre is taking shape on a business park.

When the new Cobalt NHS Treatment Centre opens to patients in May it will pioneer a new type of NHS facility.

Built and operated by the private sector and run by private medical and nursing staff, the North Tyneside centre will concentrate on routine general surgery such as hernias and varicose veins.

The centre will also provide a range of diagnostic tests for patients from Tyneside, Wearside and Northumberland.

Health bosses have signed a contract with the Swedish health care company Capio to treat about 18,000 NHS patients over the next five years.

To stress the fact that the centre is part of the NHS, the word Capio will not appear in the centre's name. Instead, the day case facility is named after the anonymous business park where it is situated off the A19.

The company is not allowed to take NHS staff and must recruit its own doctors, nurses and support staff.

Donna Thornton, a former NHS nurse who will manage the Cobalt centre, said: "The rules mean we have to employ staff from the private sector. Some of our doctors and nurses will come from Scandinavia and some will come from Australia."

She stressed that all staff will have similar training to their British counterparts and doctors and nurses will be registered with UK professional bodies.

Last April, the Government signed a contract with the private sector which means that thousands of NHS patients will have operations or procedures at either a Capio Healthcare centre or a private Nuffield Hospital.

A spokeswoman for County Durham and Tees Valley Strategic Health Authority said that under the scheme, patients from the south of the region would be seen at Nuffield hospitals.