PLANS to open a community hospital on the old Frenchay Hospital site are still on hold.

Frenchay Hospital closed its doors in April 2014 to make way for a new £430 million site at Southmead Hospital.

When Frenchay Hospital closed, the plan was to develop a new acute hospital at the Southmead site and, at the same time, create a new community hospital on the Frenchay site, which would have beds to support the Southmead site.

Yet, to date, there remains no development on the Frenchay site - and local campaigners are unhappy.

Barbara Harris, of the group Save Frenchay Hospital, said: “After two and a half years of consultations, the plan for a community hospital at Frenchay with outpatients and diagnostics, was stopped.

“The issue here is that we have an unfinished reconfiguration of services.”

In July, 2015, Jack Lopresti, the Conservative MP for Filton and Bradley Stoke, gave a speech in the House of Commons about the Frenchay site, highlighting his plan for in-patient rehabilitation beds at Frenchay – a plan voted down by the Liberal and Labour councillors.

However, of Mr Lopresti’s involvement in the process since his speech, Mrs Harris said: “Where is Jack Lopresti on all this?”

But, in a statement about his current involvement in the Frenchay site, Mr Lopresti said: “I will be writing to the Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire clinical commissioning groups (CCG), ahead of the publication of their urgent options appraisal.”

South Gloucestershire’s CCG, the body that manages the provision process, is now expecting the bed provision to be evaluated in the New Year, but with the new addition of Thornbury as an extra provision site.

The provision process will now go through an options appraisal, with the CCG making a decision on next steps and timetables no later than April, 2018.

Dominic Moody, communications manager for the CCG, said in a statement: “The second phase of the programme includes proposals to build new health and care facilities on NHS land at Frenchay and Thornbury.

“These facilities would replace existing NHS community rehabilitation beds, as well as providing additional nursing home beds and extra care housing, with a dementia focus, in response to local authority requirements.

“Development of both phases has been led by Sirona care & health, working in partnership with North Bristol NHS Trust.”

Due to the complexity of the programme and the multi-agency involvement, finalising these plans has taken longer than anticipated, with Sirona's contract now soon due to expire.

Mr Moody added: “One important consequence is that, to complete the work, Sirona would now require an extension to its current community services contract that would exceed the maximum term available.”

Of the delays, Mrs Harris, of the Save Frenchay group, said: “They talk about the programme slippage, when what they actually mean is that they have no intention of putting anything on the Frenchay site if they can get away with it.”

Dominic Moody said: ”We remain committed to progressing our plans for new facilities at Thornbury and Frenchay as soon as possible.”