A NEW hospital for Basingstoke is hoped to be built by 2028, it has been revealed.

At a virtual Health Focus event held by Hampshire Hospitals Foundation Trust (HHFT) titled Covid-19: One year on, chief executive Alex Whitfield spoke about plans to build a new hospital for the town.

It was announced last year that Basingstoke would get a new hospital as part of a £3.7 billion government funding package.

A timeline published by HHFT previously showed that the hospital may not open until 2030.

However, Ms Whitfield has now said the trust is working to a schedule for it to open two years earlier in 2028.

Giving an update on the project, she said: “We are hoping by early summer to be ready to go out to public consultation.”

Late this year she said decisions will be made regarding the location.

There has been much speculation and secrecy over where the new hospital will be built.

The trust revealed a list of six shortlisted options, but meeting papers seen by the Gazette showed it had already selected a ‘preferred option’ prior to the public consultation.

The trust then revealed two locations which had been shortlisted further – the first between Basingstoke and Winchester, near to junction seven of the M3, and the other based on the current site of Basingstoke hospital, in Aldermaston Road.

However, the trust’s chief medical officer previously hinted that Basingstoke hospital is unlikely to be re-built using the funds, because there is no space for it to expand.

Speaking at the Health Focus event on Monday, Ms Whitfield said: “By late 2021 we will make decisions on which site we will use and which services will be run from the new hospital and which services will be run from existing buildings.”

She added: “Once we know what location we are building on and which services will run from there we can start the planning work and design work of what it will look like and we are hoping that we will be opening our new hospital in 2028.”

For more information about the plans for a new hospital click here.