A SINGLE, state-of-the-art hospital to serve the Forest could be open within five years – but that and the location are up for discussion with local people.

The NHS yesterday (Tuesday) launched a 12-week consultation on its ‘preferred option’ to build a new community hospital to replace the current facilities at Lydney and The Dilke by the end of 2022.

Gloucestershire Care Services NHS Trust and the Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group say this option would meets the needs of residents and improve working conditions for staff.

Although the ‘expectation’ is that the new hospital will be close to either Cinderford, Coleford or Lydney, health chiefs say the exact site will be part of the ‘conversation’ with local people.

The new hospital is expected to cost around £11 million and will be paid for by the NHS – but it will not have a maternity unit or full operating theatre.

Chief executive of Gloucestershire Care Services, Katie Norman, said: “We are hugely excited by the opportunity to bring together services in a purpose-built environment that enables our aspirations to be met.”

She said that while the trust was ‘mindful’ of the heritage of the current hospitals, the trust wanted to provide facilities the people of the Forest “deserve”.

She added: “What we have is much-loved but it is important that people look forward and imagine what great could look like.”

The new hospital will have a minimum of 24 beds and while the Dilke currently has 27 and Lydney 20, she said that more than half the patients using them come from outside the district.

Ellen Rule, the Clinical Commissioning Group’s director of transformation, said it “did not make brilliant sense” to plan the number of beds based on people travelling to the Forest from other parts of the county.

Ms Norman added: “Twenty four should be sufficient for the Forest of Dean’s core rehabilitation needs but we do have the flexibility to increase that.”

The new hospital would provide a wider range of services which could include an endoscopy suite.

The consultation will ask three broad questions: do local people support and understand the investment in a single hospital, what they think the criteria for deciding the site should be, and who should make recommendations to the trust board.

There is a consultation booklet available from pharmacies, surgeries, hospitals, libraries and Forest Council buildings.

There will also be drop-in sessions, presentations and the NHS information bus will travel the district.

The consultation also has its own website – www.fodhealth.nhs.uk – and will also feature on social media.

The closing date for comments will be Sunday, December 10.