It is managed by the County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust.

The hospital has its origins in the Darlington Dispensary established in the Market Buildings in 1808.

[3] A new purpose-built hospital was established in Hollyhurst Road in the mid-1920s: the memorial hall, which commemorates people from Darlington who died in the First World War, stems from this era.

[6] A state of the art MRI scanner was installed at the hospital in June 2018.

[7] Services include an accident and emergency department which has the capability to deal with most types of trauma.