PLANS that will see a district council splashing out £6m to build a new community hospital and health centre in Pershore could be the first initiative of its kind in the UK, officials claim.

Wychavon District Council will pay for the new development and will lease the hospital to South Worcestershire Primary Care Trust, which provides community health care including GPs and dentists. The health centre will be leased to doctors.

"We believe this is possibly a unique situation in the country," said Coun Judy Pearce, the council's executive board member responsible for health.

Hospital and health centre schemes are normally funded by health bodies or through private finance initiatives, she said.

"We are certainly breaking new ground here," she added.

The revelations came at a special meeting yesterday organised by Wychavon District Council to quash concerns that the plans for the new state-of-the-art developments were in jeopardy.

Rumours had been rife over the future of the much-needed hospital since plans to create eight new or improved GP surgeries in Worcestershire were put on ice in February, when the Government changed its funding rules for such schemes.

The stalled plans included proposals to replace the existing Pershore Health Centre with a new one - which is closely linked to the planned new hospital in the town.

However, last week the Evening News revealed that seven of the eight plans had finally received the financial backing required.

Yesterday, Wychavon District Council officers said they were "overjoyed" by the news that will also see new health centres being built in Droitwich, Ombersley, Upton-upon-Severn, Worcester and Malvern.

The plans for the seven GP surgery developments are all due to be officially given the go-ahead at a meeting of South Worcestershire PCT on Wednesday.

Coun Pearce said she hoped that the meeting would reveal more about plans to extend Abbottswood GP surgery in Pershore - the only project still on ice.

She said the problem with the project is that the extensions cannot go ahead until the present Pershore hospital is demolished.

"We hope if everything goes well, by the time it is demolished money will be freed up for this scheme too," she said.

The eight plans that were stalled in February are part of a total of 13 health centre schemes planned for south Worcestershire.

The other five have already received financial backing and if all 13 eventually go-ahead it will see health services improved for two thirds of south Worcestershire's population.