Duchess performs keyhole surgery at Hexham General

The Duchess said: "I think I passed with flying colours. I thought it would actually be on a real patient, but I'm so squeamish about that sort of thing. I hate blood."

The Duchess was given a 90-minute tour of the new £51m building which is on Corbridge Road, in Hexham, Northumberland.

She then unveiled a plaque and addressed a small gathering of doctors, nurses and hospital workers who had congregated to see her.

Before she left she cut a cake and planted her favourite rose bush - the Jude the Obscure - in the grounds outside the new building.

She said: "This hospital is quite amazing. The architect should be congratulated on a stunning design.

"It has an incredible feeling of light and space and it's very human. It doesn't feel like a hospital.

"There is a real community spirit in the North East, and I don't think that's something you would see in the South."

Building work on the new phase of the hospital started in September 2006 and includes a new 30-bed ward of single rooms with en-suite bathrooms for the elderly who require rehabilitation.

It also houses two new GP practices, expanded emergency care facilities and an education centre for the staff.