PATIENTS will continue to have a say in the design of a multi-million community hospital in Malvern, say health chiefs.

People power is key to the success of the £19.3 million hospital at Seaford Court in Malvern said health leaders at the Worcestershire Primary Care Trust board meeting on Wednesday.

The PCT secured Department of Health funding in December to replace the old community hospital in Lansdowne Crescent. It is due to be completed in June 2010.

Malvern Town councillor John Wilcox, part of the PCT working party, said: "There have been concerns about what's going in the hospital.

"It would be against the whole ethos of the PCT if we didn't involve the community in the design process."

But chief executive Paul Bates reassured him the public and patients would still be involved in the hospital development which includes 24 in-patient beds, an out patient unit for 11,000 people, a minor injuries unit, a day treatment and therapies facility and a GP out-of-hours service.

"I can foresee publishing the options for the design at various points so people can see which they think are the most attractive," he said.

Alec Kendall, who heads the project, said Malvern Hills District Council - the local planning authority - had sent "supportive letters". "The Strategic Health Authority and the Department of Health will be keeping a very close eye on the way in which their money is to be spent," he said.

"Malvern Hills District Council has not granted planning permission but has granted the support we need to show our application is robust."

The PCT board resolved to start on a full planning application and to find a contractor to build it.