DEVIZES Hospital League of Friends fears a new hospital planned for the town could have fewer services than the existing one.

A blueprint for a new hospital, to be built on land in Green Lane, is expected to be unveiled next week and health chiefs are asking local people for their views.

It will be the third time in a decade that the town has been consulted on a new hospital plan.

But friends' chairman Ian Glendinning fears cuts in bed numbers, reduced hours for the casualty department and a threat to the maternity unit.

The latest plan is to demolish the present hospital and sell off the canalside site next to the Wharf, as well as the Devizes Family Health Centre in New Park Street, and use the proceeds to build a new hospital on land owned by the Kennet and North Wiltshire Primary Care Trust in Green Lane.

Consultation documents will be available from the library, GP surgeries and health centres, and a public meeting will be held at the Corn Exchange on June 10 at 7.30pm.

Peter Williams, the trust's project manager, told the League of Friends last Wednesday there was likely to be additional services including a day hospital for the elderly, but the number of in-patient beds would be cut from the existing 37 to 24, and the casualty department may not open 24 hours.

He said it was proposed to increase the number of outpatient sessions with consultants, so patients would not have to travel to other hospitals.

He said the maternity unit would stay the same, dentistry services would be based there, together with a team of professionals from Social Services, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and district nurses.

Other services that could also be considered, he said, were ultrasound, services for children and young people, family planning, a complementary medicine centre, a shared office for local voluntary groups, a meeting hall for local groups and training and conference rooms.

Mr Williams said not all the present beds at Devizes Hospital were fully occupied and with Government moves to reduce admission to hospitals and to care for people in their homes, it was thought that less beds would be needed.

He said: "The new hospital is about providing a range of services, such as a day hospital and support for patients getting care in their own home.

"The first stage is to have a consensus about what services are needed in a replacement hospital. Once we have a clear vision among the whole community it is then necessary to turn that vision into a reality."

Mr Glendinning said he had concerns about the scheme. He said: "Unless we are guaranteed the same services we are getting at the existing hospital I am not prepared to support the move to Green Lane.

"We have been targeted with this reduction of beds for at least 12 years and we have managed to fight it off, and yet with so much more money being spent on the NHS we are being asked to support a scheme with a reduction of so many beds.

"There is still a danger to accident and emergency, which has also been threatened for years, and I believe a danger to maternity."

He said he would continue to press for the same level of services.

Mr Glendinning said he considered that the Green Lane site was too far out for elderly patients, and thought it would be better to sell off the land at Green Lane and use the money to reinvest in the current hospital.

Public consultation is due to last until the end of June. The Primary Care Trust will then cost the project and in December it wants to produce a detailed business plan about what services the new hospital should have and how many staff it will need.

If approved by the Strategic Health Authority the scheme will go to tender. It is hoped the new hospital could be open in 2005.