NHS approves £1.2m health centre

The new centre will be built on the site of St Michael's Hospital

Plans to build a new health centre on the site of a hospital earmarked for closure have been approved.

The £1.2m centre at Aylsham, Norfolk, is expected to open in December 2009.

It will be built on the site of St Michael's Hospital, which NHS Norfolk decided to close last year, despite opposition from local residents.

NHS Norfolk said the current hospital would only close after the new centre has been built and other services had been put in place.

David Stonehouse, deputy chief executive for NHS Norfolk said he expected the closure to take place in 2010.

But it would only happen after the new centre was opened and there were more patient beds, along with an increase in community staff working with people in their own homes, he said.

He added: "In the meantime, all services and beds will continue to be open at St Michael's."

When the plan to shut St Michael's Hospital was announced last year, 1,143 letters were written by residents opposed to the closure.