HEALTH bosses have been given a hard time by Alcester residents and councillors angry that an update meeting about the town's hospital was not publicised.

They have accused doctors and members of the South Warwickshire Primary Care Trust of trying to keep last Thursday's meeting a secret to avoid confrontation and have demanded that future meetings be well advertised.

Only 23 people were at the Greig Centre to hear the progress report on the Kinwarton Road facility, most of them councillors and health workers.

Councillors said the arrangements for the meeting had been 'terrible' and wanted improvements in the future.

At a town council meeting, Councillor Peter Crabtree said: "I complained bitterly - nobody knew anything about the meeting. The Friends of Alcester Hospital were equally cross about the situation.

"I thought it was terrible. These are professional people who are employed to get this thing made known to everyone in the town."

Alcester Mayor John Hill said: "It was a very brief meeting - it was far from satisfactory and I will be looking for an improvement next time round."

Councillor John Bunting added: "It's a deliberate policy not to let anyone know so they can turn round and say nobody cares."

The new facility, which is planned for land next to the present hospital, will be owned by local doctors Richard Lambert, Mohan Singh and Andy Wallis. The three will form a company to buy the site from the NHS and Warwickshire County Council.

The project will include in-patient beds, two GP surgeries and a range of out-patient facilities to "meet local needs".

It will be funded by selling off the part of the site on which the present hospital stands for housing, GP funding from the government and by renting out part of the new building to South Warwickshire Primary Care Trust, who will provide some of the services.

Dr Lambert, who is based at the Arrow Lodge practice with Dr Singh, said the new company hoped to apply for planning permission in December. Building work could start in May.

A spokeswoman for South Warwickshire PCT said they did their best in alerting townsfolk about the meeting.

"There was no deliberate policy," she said. "We wrote to everyone who attended the first meeting as well as councillors and John Maples MP.

"Before the meeting, the PCT had calls from people asking about the meeting so we did put posters up at the last minute."

There will be another meeting next month, when it is hoped that plans for the new building will be on display.