By HELEN COMPSON

Last updated at 12:19, Friday, 13 November 2009

BUILDING work has started on the new £27million specialist children’s centre destined for the grounds of Prudhoe Hospital.

Built at the behest of Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Trust, it is scheduled to open in the summer of 2011. It will be called Woodland View.

Not only will it secure the jobs of the 150 staff currently working on site, but also bring another 30 or so jobs in its wake.

The 40-bed centre will cater for young people up to the age of 18 with mental health problems and learning disabilities.

Designed to provide a homely, as well as a therapeutic, environment, it will boast four residential units, shared educational and recreational facilities, a visitors’ flat and offices.

Trust chairman Jules Preston said: “We are very proud of our current services for young people, but they are provided from old buildings that are not always suitable for the provision of modern services.

“Some of the young people are with us for quite a long time and we need a new building that is purpose built around their needs.”

Some of the young people themselves had played a big part in designing the building, he added.

At its peak during the 1970s, the old Prudhoe Hospital housed 2,700 patients.

However, following the advent of care in the community, the size of the operation was scaled down dramatically.

Many of the old, derelict buildings on the site have now been demolished to make way for the new development. However, historic Prudhoe Hall and its Victorian walled garden have been conserved.

First published at 09:52, Friday, 13 November 2009
Published by http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk