HEALTH leaders from across the county have given their support for major plans to build a new hospital serving north and mid Hampshire.

As reported in the Chronicle last week multi-million-pound plans to revolutionise healthcare were launched by Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (HHFT) under the programme ‘Hampshire Together: Modernising our Hospitals and Health Services’.

The centrepiece will be will be the construction of a brand new hospital – but the programme’s impact will reach far beyond the walls of this new building, involving GPs, mental health, community care, social care and the wider voluntary sector, as well as acute hospital care, creating a health campus.

Dr Nicola Decker, clinical chair for north Hampshire at the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Partnership of Clinical Commissioning Groups, said: “The central aim of Hampshire Together is to deliver a healthcare system that supports patients, their families and their carers to access the right care, in the right place, at the right time in order to keep them healthy.”

Grant MacDonald, chief operating officer at Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust, added: “Hampshire Together is a real opportunity to improve care for local people by working better together.

“We are keen to support this initiative and help ensure people using our services, local communities and staff are involved in shaping these plans.”

Their thoughts are echoed by Mark Ainsworth, director of operations at South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, who said: “We are really pleased to be involved in this programme and look forward to playing our part in helping people across Hampshire access the fantastic services that will be available and enabling our staff to get the right treatment to all our patients when they need it most.”

As part of the programme, people across north and mid Hampshire are currently being asked for their views on the way health services are provided in the area now and in the future.

Over the coming weeks online engagement events are planned to be held to allow for specific audiences to give their opinions on what they would like to see.

A public event is due to be held on June 19 between 1pm and 2pm.

To find out more, go to www.hampshiretogether.nhs.uk.