MALVERN Town Council fully supports the building of a new flagship hospital for Malvern, designed to meet local needs in the 21st Century and built on the Seaford Court site, which has been owned by the Health Authorities since 1979 and earmarked for this purpose.

We hope and expect the South Worc-estershire Primary Care Trust board to honour its commitment to build this new hospital to meet the aspirations of people living in the Malvern area and to publish its building programme at the earliest possible date.

This is a summary of a letter that I have written to Mike Ridley, chief executive of the PCT, in reply to his letter requesting the town council remove its objection to the planning restriction on the Seaford Court site to allow part to be sold, possibly for housing.

The PCT board should be in no doubt of the views of the public, which were expressed at the three public meetings held in Malvern. What is needed is a firm start date and a commitment to build.

While the town council understands that approval of the Strategic Health Authority is required for the business case, we are concerned that the PCT needs to find some £4 million savings in its running costs for 2005/06 and the impact this may have on health provision in Worcestershire.

The town council would like to see answers to the following:

n The financial envelope the PCT is working within.

n The impact this has on the various options to be considered in the business plan.

n What the new hospital will contain in terms of beds and services that meets the budget restriction being worked within.

n A fully costed plan (in detail) for providing the services of the existing hospital at the new site.

n The detailed incremental costs for the additional services and beds included as part of options being considered.

n How much of the site the PCT needs to sell to meet local aspirations.

n How much of the site will be retained to cater for future expansion.

n The date the business plan will be approved by the PCT board and submitted to the Strategic Health Authority.

In the council's opinion, answers are needed to these questions to allow proper debate before the town council can respond to the PCT's request.

On behalf of the town council, I seek the PCT board's commitment to move this process forward without delay.

Town councillors are willing to meet with the board to discuss the ways we can assist in taking the process forward.

We look forward to the PCT response to the points raised.

RALPH MADDEN, Chairman Malvern Town Council.