HEALTH chiefs insist the new hospital for the Forest is still value for money despite costs more than doubling.

The original budget was £11 million but the full business case that has now been approved by the Gloucestershire Health and Care Trust puts the revised cost at £23.9 million.

Each square metre of the new facility at Cinderford will cost £3,687 compared with £2,403 in the original budget.

The business case states: “At OBC (original business case) stage, finance was considered a key constraint of the project and costs were developed in line with this.

“The current position reflects the significant increase in general construction prices and the upward trend for construction inflation indices rather than a change in scope for the development of the new hospital.”

Health chiefs say that a cost-benefit analysis of the expected 60-year lifespan of the new hospital “confirms that this investment gives clear value for money”.

“...the investment is clearly worthwhile and will make a substantial contribution both immediately and in the long term to the healthcare for the Forest.”

The steep rise in costs is likely to be seen as weakening the case against refurbishing the existing hospitals as many in the area have been calling for.

The cost of £8 million to overhaul the two existing was about 73 per cent of the original budget but now represents about a third – but the trust has said even with refurbishment, the Dilke and Lydney would not be able to meet modern health requirements in the way a new hospital will.

Building work is expected to start in February next year and the new, two-storey hospital will open in June 2023 with the closures of the Dilke and Lydney the following month.

The business case will now being shared with “partners for their consideration and wider support and also with regional figures as part of the wider NHS approvals process.

Chief executive Paul Roberts said: “This is a major investment in infrastructure in the Forest of Dean, and I think it’s exciting and overdue investment.

“Of course, we recognise there has been some contention around these proposals. A series of decisions have been made, with the location recommended by a Citizen’s Jury and on the size of the hospital and services to be included.

“Our job has been to put those decisions into action to deliver a new hospital, and I believe we have developed a scheme which is workable and affordable.”

The new hospital at Steam Mills Road, Cinderford will include 24-beds with en-suite bathrooms, an urgent care facility and diagnostic services including a dedicated endoscopy unit.

As part of the deal which saw the health trust acquire the site from Cinderford Town Council, the trust will provide a multi-use games area for the town and relocate the skate park.

The move to a single site will also mean job losses, although some will be created in the new endoscopy unit. There will be the equivalent of 8.8 full-time jobs lost in maintenance, 35 in ward staff – after the conversion of nursing jobs to therapy posts, 2.6 in minor injuries and the creation of 9.5 jobs in endoscopy.

A planning application is expected to be submitted imminently.