THE doors to the first nursing home in a £60m project to ease the chronic shortage of nursing home beds in Hampshire have opened in Fareham.

In a joint investment by county council and health chiefs Hawthorne Court in Sarisbury is now open for business, to the delight of 92-year-old resident Lottie Brewer.

Mrs Brewer is among the first to move into the 80-bed home - the first of ten across the county - after a fall at home and two hospital stays.

Her daughter Deirdre Mills said: "I know the home will suit her very well. My mother has lived all her life in the area, and it's important to her to stay here, as well as meaning friends and family will be able to pop in and see her."

To mark the opening of the £6m home - which is claimed to be the first in the country to be built by a local authority - the Lord-Lieutenant of Hampshire Mary Fagan will attend a ceremony on Wednesday.

The state-of-the-art nursing home specialises in dementia and physical frailty.

It has 80 en suite bedrooms, an occupational therapy room, medical room, visitor room, staff offices, kitchen and laundry.

Bedrooms are arranged in groups of ten, with each wing having its own communal areas.

Residents wear a monitor which measures body temperature, periods of activity and sleep and helps in emergencies.

Hampshire's civic leader Councillor Ken Thornber said: "I am delighted to see our first residents now benefiting from the care in our wonderful nursing home.

"We have striven to provide a warm and welcoming home and I know in the capable hands of our staff, they will be offered the very best in nursing care as well as the latest technology to support that care."

Lucy Docherty, chairman of Fareham and Gosport Primary Care Trust (PCT), said: "We welcome the residents. We are constantly looking at ways to improve health services for local people and this is a perfect example of improved services for older people much closer to their families."

Work is nearing completion at five other sites - in Ticehurst in Aldershot, Oakridge in Basingstoke, Marlfield in Alton, Fleming House in Eastleigh and Willow Court in Andover. Work has recently started at Bickerley Green in Ringwood, and begins at the final three homes at Westholme in Winchester, Emsworth in Havant and at Tatchbury Mount.