PATIENTS have moved into a £1m community hospital built in the grounds of a Victorian sanatorium.

As well as offering long-term and respite care for elderly and convalescent patients, the hospital at Horn Hall, in Stanhope, also has a physiotherapy team, palliative care and an extended occupational therapy service.

Nursing sister Julie Walton said: "We are delighted with the new facility. It is really lovely and beyond our wildest dreams.

"We feel it will be a great asset to the community."

Several names are now being considered for the new hospital.

The old Horn Hall building is being sold to a property developer