Community hospital opens in town

The centre cost £4.5m to build

A new community hospital is to open in Thetford replacing the town's cottage hospital which has just closed.

The new Healthy Living Centre brings together a range of services under one roof - from midwifery and dentistry to school nursing and speech therapy.

The centre cost £4.5m to build and will officially open to patients on Tuesday.

Hilary Daniels, from Norfolk Primary Care Trust, said it was "a demonstration of the PCTs commitment to invest.. and improve health care".

The centre will house staff and services provided by health trusts from Norfolk and Suffolk, including Suffolk Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust and Norwich Voluntary Services among others.

"It's a very exciting day for Thetford because it's been in the pipeline for many, many years," said James Romana from Norfolk PCT.

"It's very important that Thetford is recognised as a hugely deprived area, and it's important that we recognise they need a facility such as this."