THOUSANDS of North-East NHS patients are to have their operations in the private sector at no extra cost, following a deal struck by the Government.

Patients facing long waits for hip and knee operations from York to Newcastle will be asked if they are prepared to have their operations at a private Nuffield hospital near them.

The Government estimates that each strategic health authority area will nominate about 880 patients to have surgery, making a total of 2,640 in the North-East and North Yorkshire.

Under the contract, Nuffield Hospitals and Capio Healthcare UK will do about 25,000 hip, knee and other operations for the NHS during this financial year.

Within weeks, the first patients will have their operations in one of 50 private hospitals across England. In the North, the Nuffield hospitals are at Newcastle, Stockton, Harrogate and York.

Alison Hyde, spokeswoman for County Durham and Tees Valley Strategic Health Authority said: "We understand it will be the Nuffield in Stockton. The process is that primary care trusts are being asked to identify patients who have been waiting a long time for their treatment."

Ms Hyde stressed that the operations in the private sector would be in addition to patients being treated at the three acute hospital trusts in County Durham and Tees Valley.