HEALTH bosses have pledged to continue plans to redevelop a hospital after talks with a private healthcare services firm over community and out of hours services broke down.

NHS Hambleton, Richmondshire and Whitby clinical commissioning group (CCG) said it had been disappointed not to be able to pursue the £6m-a-year contract with Virgin Care to deliver services in the Whitby area, following months of discussions with the Virgin Group subsidiary.

Promote better integration of health and social care to reduce duplication and support better health outcomes through new partnerships.

Virgin Care, which provides more than 200 NHS services nationally, had been appointed as preferred bidder in February after the CCG undertook a competitive tender process.

The CCG has offered the contract to the reserve bidder, Humber NHS Foundation Trust, which it said met all key contract requirements and also demonstrated a strong commitment to ensuring the local community would benefit from enhanced services.

The contract will be awarded for seven years to allow stability for the community and to enable the trust to deliver improvements in the services.

The CCG, which is run by GPs, said it was hoped the new service providers would ensure the minor injuries unit and out of hours GP services were better integrated, lead to cuts in the length of patient stays in hospital and support better discharge planning.

The scheme also aims to provide local access to a range of diagnostic services, reduce the need for patients to travel outside the area and deliver improvements in the quality of care through the wider adoption of technology.

The CCG hopes other benefits will include closer working between the community and out of hours services with GP practices, the adoption of more technology and a multi-disciplinary approach to care planning and closer working with local charities and the voluntary sector.

It has previously said many areas of the hospital are under-occupied or mothballed and about 60 per cent of the infirmary will not be needed in the future.

A CCG spokesman said: "We would like to assure the local population that this decision will not affect the plans to redevelop Whitby Hospital.

"Newcastle-based architects Medical Architecture have recently been appointed to transform the building and an engagement exercise is beginning for members of the public to express their views."