A PIONEERING walk-in medical centre has been hailed a huge success after hundreds of people came through the doors during its first month.

Darlington MP Alan Milburn opened Dr Piper House, the walk-in health centre and headquarters of Darlington Primary Care Trust, on January 21.

Since then, the unit has treated 1,586 patients, winning praise from staff and members of the public as a result.

The £2m centre, in King Street, treats on average 75 people a day for minor injuries and ailments. Managers are delighted that it appears to be relieving pressure on Darlington Memorial Hospital's accident and emergency department.

PCT chief executive Colin Morris said: "The early indications are that the right types of cases are using the walk-in centre, with just two patients having to be referred to the hospital.

"We are getting significant activity on Saturday mornings and early analysis has identified that a high percentage of patients attending have Darlington postcodes, so it is representing good value for money for the town."

Pharmacy representative Carol Charlton said: "The walk-in centre is proving popular with pharmacies because they can refer people there for treatment when the GP surgeries are closed, especially on Saturday mornings."

One of just three such centres in the North - the others are at Newcastle and York - the Darlington facility treats patients in nurse-led clinics, from 7am to 10pm during the week and 9am to 10pm at weekends. It supports the town's 11 GP practices, the new out-of-hours service and the hospital.

The centre will also eventually deal with booked appointments for chronic disease management, including ailments such as asthma and diabetes, and offer retinal and foot screening.

Complementary therapies, health promotion and counselling services will also have a home in the centre. The Patient Advice and Liaison Service has an office on the ground floor.