A catalogue of troubles inside the £97m University Hospital of North Durham emerged as MPs investigated the use of private finance in the health service.

Staff representatives cited a long list of problems when they gave evidence to House of Commons Select Committee members who had travelled from London to hear testimony first hand. They were told:

l Fire doors are routinely wedged open to allow patients to be wheeled into operating theatres because the new hospital does not have automatic doors

l A pneumatic tube system designed to transport blood samples is so noisy it keeps patients awake and is so unreliable samples that have 'exploded.'

l A defective patient-operated buzzer system cannot be muted, also making sleep impossible for many patients.

l Ten beds have had to be mothballed after five trained care staff left.

After the hearing, it was reported that consultants at the hospital are repeatedly complaining about poor operating theatre lighting, which means they cannot see properly during complex procedures.

The new hospital, which replaced the run-down and outdated Dryburn Hospital, ran into immediate difficulties when it opened in April.

Built with only 492 acute beds, compared with Dryburn's complement of 514, it has struggled to cope with rocketing demand and is failing to hit many waiting list targets.

Critics of the Government's Private Finance Initiative, including Britain's biggest health union Unison, have claimed that PFI hospitals are sub-standard and have had to cut staffing to meet the demand from shareholders.

The visit by Select Committee members comes only days after the announcement that the NHS Appointments Commission is not re-appointing Kevin Earley, a Labour councillor from Consett, to the £19,000 three-day-a-week post as chairman of the North Durham Healthcare Trust.

The commission has instead sent out letters to potential successors.

Staff and managers within the trust are shocked and disappointed by the move and local MPs have criticised it.

North Durham Labour MP Kevan Jones said Mr Earley had done a 'first-rate job' but upset powerful people.

Mr Earley, who has spoken candidly about the new hospital's l Continued on Page 3