THE closure of Stourport's Lucy Baldwin Hospital before transforming it into a new state-of-the-art mental health facility will be completed in two stages.

The nine patients on Wilden Ward will be moved to Redgrove House at Bromsgrove on March 22 but the trust has made it clear that day hospital staff and the community mental health team would not be moving off the site until late summer.

Colin Vines, director of clinical services and nursing for the Worcestershire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust, said: "We are aiming for August once the refurbishment of the Fern Unit at Lea Castle is complete."

The unit has been chosen as the base for the day hospital and community team while the new facility is being built.

Mr Vines said it would be four months before a planning application to demolish the current buildings and subsequent re-development would be made.

He said: "The planning and design team are currently working on the design elements in liaison with the clinical teams. This will probably take a month."

He said the scheme would then go back out to consultation, which could take three months to complete. Once this stage was complete they would be ready to talk to the local authority about planning permission, he said.

He also said a new idea had come into the frame regarding transport for the elderly, frail relatives of patients who will be moved to Bromsgrove.

Mr Vines said the trust was looking at organising its own minibus shuttle service between Kidderminster and Bromsgrove for use by staff and patients. A decision on transport will have been made by tomorrow.