Future of hospital to be decided

Two public meetings are to be held to help decide the future of the Birmingham Dental Hospital.

The 40-year-old building faces major surgery, costing up to £20m, to bring it up to modern standards.

South Birmingham Primary Care Trust, which manages the hospital, is to consult the public on whether to modernise the existing hospital or re-build it.

It is one of ten training centres for dentists in the country and the walk-in type casualty service at St Chad's Queensway in the city centre serves five million people across the region.

The public meetings will be held next month where people will be asked to give their views on six options.

These include relocating the hospital to a new building in the city centre or building a hospital at the University of Birmingham with a network of outreach centres.

Cath Jakeman who is the Associate Director of Birmingham Dental Hospital says the public will be able to have their say on a number of options being considered.