THE much-delayed business case for a new Malvern community hospital could be on its way at last.

The hospital project board will look at the business case at its next meeting in mid-January, said South Worcestershire Primary Care Trust spokesman Janet Ferguson.

Pat Merrick, of the League of Friends of Malvern Hospital, hailed the move as a "very positive development".

"Perhaps now we can get on with things," she said. "This really should have happened months ago, but it's good to see it happening now. It looks like all systems go, with a will to get things done."

In October, at a meeting of the district council's overview and scrutiny committee, Tim Davies of the trust said the draft business case should be presented to the board's December meeting.

Paul Bates, the trust's acting chief executive, said: "I attended my first meeting of the project board recently and the strength of feeling about the need to press on with this development was made very clear to me."

He said too much time had been spent talking about where the hospital should go.

"We should move beyond that debate and get ourselves to a position where we can test out whether there is a developer who can build a replacement hospital at a price we can afford. The issue of where the hospital should be built will depend on any proposals we receive."