Leaders have spoken of the possibility of more high street health facilities as Stockton was picked for a pioneering healthcare programme. Stockton Council's cabinet has agreed to spend £6.5m on proposals to upgrade town centre shops and revive Stockton's town hall and former Debenhams building.

Community health facilities have been mooted as a potential future use for the council-owned Debenhams building on High Street, as well as a creative and digital 'hub', market food hall and leisure uses, along the road from the Tees Valley Community Diagnostic Centre which opened earlier this year.

The meeting also heard about ongoing plans for a care and health innovation zone and medical school in a borough with striking health inequalities, including gaps in life expectancies as wide a

See Full Page