PEOPLE living in Teesdale and Weardale are being urged to take a vital role in the redevelopment of a community hospital.

The Durham Dales Primary Care Trust is to consult with people in the dale on the future of the Richardson Hospital, in Barnard Castle.

The hospital is in line to receive £4.8m after the trust applied to the NHS Lift scheme, which is a Government initiative aimed at improving the infrastructure of hospitals.

Although the funding is still subject to approval from the Charity Commission, officials at the trust are confident that the application will be successful.

As part of the consultation process, local people are being invited to attend four meetings at locations around the county so that they can put forward their views.

The first meeting will be held at Norman Richardson House, in Middleton-in-Teesdale, on October 24.

That will be followed by a meeting on October 31, at the Dolphin Centre, in Darlington, the Witham Hall, in Barnard Castle, on November 6 and Evenwood Community Centre, on November 11.

All the meetings will be held between 7pm and 8.30pm.

Among the issues to be discussed will be the development of outpatient services, care services for elderly people, intermediate care, quicker rehabilitation of patients, palliative care, the need for more practitioner beds and better access to the hospital.

Andrew Kenworthy, chief executive of the Durham Dales Primary Care Trust, said: "The Durham Dales Primary Care Trust is committed to modernising and improving local health services and looking at ways to ensure the continued development of our health services by listening to the views of our partner organisations and local people.

"The Richardson Hospital is a much-loved community hospital, providing high quality health care to the residents of the Durham dales and for a limited number of Darlington residents.

"The hospital is a valuable resource for the trust in helping to improve access to health services locally.

"But to maximise its potential, we feel it requires significant levels of investment in order to meet the needs of modern health care, without compromising the level of service that the people of the Durham dales area know and trust from the Richardson."