[5] A new hospital was procured under a Private Finance Initiative contract which was awarded to a consortium of Balfour Beatty and the Royal Bank of Scotland in 1998.

It has a basement for pathology and pharmacy and three other floors, each consisting of a long main corridor with wards and departments on both sides.

These buildings include Dryburn House which is used as the hospital doctor's residence.

[13] That focus has resulted in improved patient perceptions[14] but a 2015 Care Quality Commission assessment of the County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust resulted in an overall "Requires Improvement" rating.

[15] A subsequent inspection undertaken in July 2019 and published the following December raised this rating to "Good".