Hereford has only got its new hospital by the skin of its teeth, revealed MP Paul Keetch.But now that it is going up it is one of which everyone should be very proud.

Mr Keeth says there had been considerable pressure on the Government to give the go-ahead for new hospitals at Kidderminster and Worcester and none in Hereford. If this had happened it would have led to downgrading of hospital services in the county

Mr Keetch was certain the Victoria Eye and General Hospitals would have closed with a small accident and emergency department based at the County Hospital, but not with 24 hour cover. The MP said, during discussions over the choices, he had seen a map showing the ability of paramedic ambulances to collect patients from Herefordshire to go to hospitals in Shrewsbury, Worcester or Gloucester.

"I did not consider this acceptable for the people of Herefordshire,'' he said.

In the end Hereford had the choice of a new hospital on a single site with some reduced bed numbers, or a hospital that would lose its 24 hour A and E cover, many of its services and less beds.

In the event the Government made a decision in favour of a PFI hospital in Hereford and Worcester to the exclusion of Kdderminster. But Mr Keetch said it was a close thing and Hereford could have been suffering the fate now faced by Kidderminster.

The MP agreed that some doctors and consultants were concerned over bed numbers, but others believed that with the community hospitals used more efficiently the bed situation can be managed.

"Further, we ensured that the new hospital being built in Hereford would have the flexibility to be extended to include extra beds if this was found necessary at a later date,'' he said.