HOSPITAL bosses have been given a further £4m to buy medical equipment for a long-awaited development.

The extra funding from the NHS Executive Regional Office means that a total of £7m can be spent kitting out wards, theatres and clinics at the new Bishop Auckland General Hospital, which is due to open in two years' time.

Items on the shopping list for the South Durham Health Care NHS Trust include the latest heart monitors for coronary care, digital x-ray equipment, a water birthing pool for the maternity department and new ventilators for the intensive care unit.

The cash will also equip an additional colposcopy and endoscopy suite being provided in the new hospital.

Colposcopy clinics deal with patients with cervical cancer, while endoscopy investigates and treats a range of conditions including bowel cancer and gallstones.

Brian James, the trust's head of planning and operations, said: "This is excellent news. Securing this additional money will guarantee that when patients and staff move into their new hospital in 2002 they will also benefit from the best possible medical equipment."

Work on the £67m hospital, which is being built under the Government's Private Finance Initiative, started in June 1999 but Prime Minister Tony Blair laid the foundation stone only last month.

The 347-bed development will bring all the hospital's existing services under one roof, including those currently based at Tindale Crescent.

A permanent MRI scanner will replace the current visiting service and an additional operating theatre will give greater flexibility and meet a rising demand for surgery