HEALTH bosses have given Fareham residents a new year boost after vowing to turn a redundant hospital site into a 21st century health campus.

Fears had been raised that a revamp of the Coldeast site at Park Gate near Fareham would be put on the back burner after plans for a so-called "superhospital" in Portsmouth were unveiled.

Chairman of Fareham and Gosport Primary Care Trust Lucy Docherty said money for the project at Coldeast had been set aside to ensure it would happen alongside the development of Portsmouth's Queen Alexandra hospital.

She said: "We have looked at the figures and there will definitely be investment available to ensure these local facilities happen at Coldeast.

"We are not saying that it will happen tomorrow but we have budgeted for a development project in our forecasts from 2005 to 2007.

"We don't want residents to have the idea that their nearest services will be in Portsmouth when the hospital is expanded."

But Mrs Docherty warned residents not to expect a hospital in the traditional sense. "We want to get away from the traditional thinking on how local healthcare is provided. What we envisage for the Coldeast site is a health campus made up for the services that are needed in the area.

"We have already started with a nursing home on the site and we want to add to that by making services available that will address residents' needs in their own communities rather than hospitals. We want to see facilities fit for the 21st century."

A consultation exercise will be launched in a bid to determine what facilities locals want.

Services could include:

Out-patients clinics

Drop-in facilities

Advice centres

Physiotherapy

Stroke rehabilitation and support for the elderly.

Mrs Docherty added the aim of the campus idea was to reduce the number of people going into hospital by identifying needs and support networks before hospitalisation became necessary.

The news was welcomed by Fareham councillor Arthur Mandry who is in charge of planning and transportation in the borough. "We have been working closely with the PCT and other partners to make sure health facilities are made available on that site. That is what it has been reserved for and I am delighted that the care trust has reaffirmed their commitment."