Inger Hebden, director of capital planning at Hampshire Primary Care Trust, said the new hospital will be on people's doorstep and will save thousands of patients having to travel miles to Queen Alexandra Hospital in Cosham, Portsmouth.

Mrs Hebden unveiled plans for the Oak Park Community Hospital in Lavant Drive, Havant, at a public meeting in Clanfield, on May 13.

The plans have been delayed because of funding issues and red tape, but Mrs Inger said a formal planning application would be made to Havant Borough Council in August, and that the hospital should open by December 2010.

The two-storey state-of-the-art community hospital, which will be built on 3.7 acres of open space, is intended to treat 25,000 outpatients a year.

It will replace services currently provided at the Havant War Memorial Hospital and Emsworth's Victoria Cottage Hospital as well as providing new ones not currently available within the borough.

People will still have to go to Queen Alexandra Hospital for emergency treatment and major surgery, but many consultants will be based at the new hospital for GP referrals.

There will be a 25-bed unit for people recovering from non life-threatening illnesses plus a 24-bed mental health unit for older people, to relieve pressure on Portsmouth's St James Hospital.

Doctors will also be able to carry out minor procedures such as endoscopies, and other diagnostic investigations using x-rays, ultrasound and MRI scans.

Mrs Hebden said: "It will give the local population a range of services they are currently having to travel a distance for.

"It will be a lovely new environment for people, and we have found the environment has an impact on how people assess the quality of service they are receiving."
The NHS chief said the new hospital would not stop the full range of services being offered at QA.

She said: "We are lucky we have a huge district hospital big enough for us to have these smaller community hospitals and still have enough staff."

Final designs for the hospital are due to be released within a month.

Mrs Hebden added: "We are not going for a 'statement' building. The area is surrounded by houses and we want something that is in character."

The hospital plans will be on view at Emsworth Community Centre, in Church Path, on Thursday June 5, from 9.30am to 2pm. The final exhibition will take place at Waterlooville Leisure Centre, in Waterberry Drive, from 10am to 2pm on Saturday, June 7.