The first hospital to be built in Wales with private finance has been opened by Welsh Assembly Health Minister Jane Hutt.

Baglan Moors Hospital, near Port Talbot, is replacing the Neath and Port Talbot hospitals which are closing their doors for good.

This is a major milestone in modernising mental health services in the area

Health Secretary Jane Hutt

The project has taken 18 months to complete, at a cost of �64m, but is the subject of criticism over whether it represents value for money in the long term.

The first patients for the unit's 270 beds arrived at 0900 GMT on Saturday.

The hospital is fitted with the very latest equipment, including MRI scanners and a computerised X-ray system.

The wards are much smaller than those it is replacing at Neath and Port Talbot Hospitals, both of which opened during World War I.

Other facilities including a day surgery centre and a mental health unit.

'Poor value'

But the decision to use a private finance scheme to fund the hospital has been questioned.

A consortium will lease the hospital to the NHS over 27 years - and critics say this represents poor value for money.

Ms Hutt has welcomed the completion of the hospital.

She said: "Now that the hospital is open the difference it will make to the area will begin to be felt.

"The new mental health unit is a welcome part of the hospital as it means people will no longer need to travel to Cefn Coed Hospital in Swansea.

"This is a major milestone in modernising mental health services in the area and it has been done in consultation with those who will be using the service as both patients and also as carers."