PROPOSALS for Malvern's new hospital will be discussed next week - behind closed doors.

South Worcestershire PCT board meets on Wednesday at Pershore Civic Centre.

The new hospital is on the agenda, but only in the confidential section, after public and press have been excluded.

Trust spokesman Jayne Granger said the discussion would be in private because of "commercial sensitivity" and a press release issued afterwards.

She said the trust's new acting chief executive, Paul Bates, had last week met the Malvern Town Council's hospital working party.

Town councillor Pat Merrick, who has been campaigning for a new hospital for years, said: "I'll be keeping a close eye on the situation. The public must be kept informed. I will be holding them to that."

At the same meeting, board members will hear about the progress of the health centre at the Pickersleigh Road depot site.

The developer is likely to start work in April next year, once decontamination is completed, and the building should be finished in mid-2007.

n Planning the future of the existing Malvern hospital site is premature, says Malvern Civic Society.

The society was responding to the district council, which is preparing a planning brief on the Lansdowne Crescent site.

The draft statement says the Edwardian building should be converted into up to 15 flats.