PATIENTS still reeling from the loss of the Royal Hospital Haslar are facing a second major blow.

Cash-strapped health chiefs are now considering scrapping plans for a community hospital in Fareham.

Residents' groups, patients groups and civic chiefs have hit out at the plan which comes just weeks after they were told the long-awaited facility finally had the go-ahead.

The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Strategic Health Authority (HIOWSHA) meets tomorrow to discuss possible ways of saving. The meeting is being held at 2pm in Southampton.

Among the options up for consideration are putting off building the hospital until 2010, two years later than planned, or dropping plans for a new site in Fareham altogether.

The same care would be provided at St Mary's Hospital in Portsmouth - nearly ten miles away. Fareham Community Action member Audrey Sitch, of Poyner Close, said: "Fareham ought to have a hospital. It seems they don't want anything in Fareham except shops.

"It's a big area that needs its own hospital. Where's the infrastructure for Fareham?"

Patient and Public Involvement Forum spokeswoman Pat Gulliford said members were set to meet to discuss the issue.

The group's vice chairman, Commander Raymond Hale, said: "This is of great concern since clearly the consultation of the future of health in Fareham and Gosport has just been completely undermined as far as Fareham people are concerned."

Fareham's civic chief Councillor Sean Woodward, who has fired off a letter to the HIOWSHA chairman pleading for the community hospital to be built, added: "It would be a complete and utter disgrace if they decide on this just to cut costs. It is totally unacceptable to expect our residents to travel all the way to St Mary's."

Defending the move, Ian Piper, chief executive of Fareham and Gosport Primary Care Trust (PCT), said: "We are currently carrying out work on what's known as a capacity map to make sure that when we put plans together that they are all affordable and within budget.

"It involves exploring all planning options to see if there are any other versions that are more affordable. A decision has not yet been made; this is very much work in progress at the very early stages. We need to explore as many options as possible. For instance, one of the areas we may look at is phasing, which could include Oak Park and Fareham Community Hospitals."

The meeting takes place at the Strategic Health Authority offices in Oakley Road.