TUCKED behind a few hedges and a row of nondescript buildings is possibly the best kept secret in North Staffordshire healthcare.

For nearly two years now, a £35 million new hospital has been quietly taking shape in a city suburb nestling between Tunstall and Burslem.

All the talk of late about the impending half-billion pound transformation in Potteries hospital services has been dominated by the new maternity and cancer centres in Hartshill nearing completion.

Those spectacular structures line the A34 at the City General site so with thousands of motorists passing every day it is no surprise they are high profile.

But it's a far different matter for the redevelopment of the Haywood Hospital site in Stanfields, where 100 construction workers are beavering away on the project so well hidden from the nearest main road of High Lane that only those in the know have a clue of just what is emerging.

In fact a building on an almost similar scale is almost finished ready for contractors Laing O'Rourke to hand over to the NHS in July and eventually be unveiled to the public in September.

This scheme may be the little brother of the £400 million superhospital in Hartshill which is also part of the same so-called Fit for the Future programme now speeding ahead 10 years after it won Government approval.

Nevertheless it represents the second-ever most expensive NHS improvement project in North Staffordshire. And a casual stroll behind the existing buildings reveals the new hospital in all its glory.

Its three stories hug the hillside and afford glorious views for patients on wards as they recover from serious illnesses and traumatic injuries.

Being right in the heart of the community, the "old Haywood" had been a part of the lives of generations in the north of Stoke-on-Trent – so the new Haywood with its 150 beds and state-of-the art facilities will further cement its place in their affections.

Indeed to strengthen that link, the wards have all been named after local coal pits long since closed.

Its shop window will be a new walk-in centre geared up to treat 42,000 casualties a year. Yards inside the impressive hospital entrance, patients will be greeted by a towering atrium before being directed towards 10 consulting rooms to be patched up by nurses .

That compares to the existing unit's four treatment rooms jammed together and guarded by pieces of curtain to try and preserve patient privacy. The latest x-ray and ultrasound equipment is all on tap to help patients walking in off the streets between 7am and 10pm on weekdays and 9am to 10pm at weekends and Bank Holidays.

It replaces a walk-in unit which opened 10 years ago to serve just 20,000 patients.

Deeper into the building comes the Jackfield ward, a centrepiece of the new rheumatology unit. This department bridges both the old and new buildings but with more beds and additional places for 40,000 outpatients to have consultations in what has already won the reputation of a world-class centre in the specialism.

The nearby Broadfield unit with its 23 beds is for people with brain injuries caused by road accidents, other trauma, strokes and even, as happened recently, a patient struck by lightning. In here is a full compliment of therapists dedicated to helping people regain their everyday functions. A 22 bed stroke rehabilitation unit (the Sneyd ward) completes the ground floor with 22 beds replacing those currently available at Bucknall Hospital.

Upstairs are a further 55 beds divided into Grange, Chatterley and Dale Hall wards – the latter catering for people needing palliative care and pain relief for terminal illnesses. Such a facility is now missing from North Staffordshire health care with patients sometimes spending their final hours on busy, general medical wards.

Grange is an intermediate care ward for patients just discharged from the University Hospital of North Staffordshire but not yet well enough to go home. Maximum stay will be six weeks but those needing further rehabilitation and assessment will be move into the Chatterley ward.

Space, light and comfort abound at the new Haywood where wards will be clustered around courtyards with pleasant gardens and sitting areas.

Acting hospital manager Rebecca Scullion said: "The Haywood has already had a special place in this community but just wait until they see what we have in store for them now."

Project co-ordinator Maria Shaw has worked at the Haywood for 31 years after starting as a medical secretary.

She said: "I will miss the old place but I am still so excited about these new facilities."