PROPOSALS are being drawn up to build a 60-bed nursing care home in the grounds of Andover War Memorial Hospital in a bid to avert a crisis in Hampshire.

The county council says there is a need for 500 more nursing home places across Hampshire to solve delayed discharge problems in hospitals, which are particularly acute in Andover and the Test Valley.

And they believe the problem can only worsen with an ageing population.

At their meeting members of the Winchester and Eastleigh Healthcare NHS Trust board welcomed the move to build on land at the hospital, currently used as a car park.

Maureen Larkin, director of planning and performance management for the trust, said: "We are all very excited as are the people we've been discussing it with in Andover.

Trust chair Barbara North added: "We will do everything we can to make this work."

The new building would accommodate 60 people with nursing care needs. Services provided could include intermediate care as well as services for older people with dementia and for the physically frail.

The trust has confirmed that existing services and future planning of services in Andover would not be adversely affected as the proposed site is a car park and the county council would be responsible for creating replacement parking on site.

Hampshire County Council has a list of suitable sites for further nursing homes. A planning application for the Andover War Memorial Hospital is due to be submitted to Test Valley Borough Council in the middle of this month.

A public consultation will be launched with opportunities for the public and interest groups to consider the proposals.

Subject to planning permission, the land would be sold to Hampshire County Council with a condition which would protect it for the future use of the NHS.

A total of 300 additional nursing care places should be available in the county by late 2004, with the full programme of 500 being completed during 2005/6.

Construction on the first developments is set to begin later this year.

zThe trust board also heard a report on the planned reconfiguration of the Andover War Memorial Hospital which will see oupatients services relocated from the existing old building into the new part of the hospital's main building.