Yeovil District Hospital unveils plans for new health campus site

Yeovil District Hospital is set to expand under a multi-million pound “health campus” project which could include a multi-storey car park.

Senior management at Yeovil District Hospital are in talks about extending the hospital by developing just over an acre of land opposite the main building on Higher Kingston.

The first phase of the proposals would see empty buildings – including former doctors’ accommodation at Cheverton House – razed to the ground.

Two bungalows, currently home to Mama Bear’s Day Nursery and Pre-school, would also be demolished after the nursery moves to new premises on Preston Road, the hospital’s chief executive Paul Mears said this week.

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While plans for the site are being devised, the land will be used as a car park after buildings are demolished, he added.

He hopes the new “health campus” will be home to community and outpatient services, and may even include a residential home. He said the trust was also looking at the option of a multi-storey car park.

He said: “We are thinking through what we would like to potentially put on that site. We have been thinking of the concept of a health campus -not just one big building, but a complex of lots of different buildings that could house some of the services in the main building, for example outpatient-type services.

“We have also been talking to colleagues who work in community services to see whether there’s a potential for them to have a base across the road.

“We are trying to provide a better range of services in one place.”

Mr Mears said the plans were in their early stages but he had already met local residents twice – once in November and once in January – to inform them of the proposals and hear any concerns they may have.

Representatives from Somerset County Council and South Somerset District Council attended the last meeting.

Mr Mears said the hospital trust will look to secure planning permission for the demolitions by the summer, and hoped the land can be used for parking before the end of the year.

He added: “We have to look at the affordability of it. We have to consider how we can fund it. We are looking at a range of different options. As a trust, we can borrow money ourselves. We are also looking at potential options for external funding for the services.”