PLANS for the new and improved Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital were shown to Harrow Council on the evening of Monday, June 7.

The hospital in Brockley Hill, Stanmore is undergoing a massive redevelopment and has drawn up plans for what will effectively be a £120 million new hospital, which would take four years to build.

The hospital is a national centre of excellence, with a worldwide reputation, at the cutting edge of many of the fields of medical care in which it specialises. But it is housed in a collection of old buildings put up over the last hundred years, ranging from a Victorian mansion to some which are little more than garden sheds, spread across a rolling Green Belt site.

At the moment the plans are in the early stages and there has been no proposal for planning permission. Residential houses may be built which would help to fund the hospital.

Conservative Councillor David Ashton said: "We want to see a modernisation but we must also save our Green Belt before it is gone."

He is also concerned about the increased traffic flow if the houses were built.

Labour Councillor Keith Burchall, planning officer said: "What the hospital is proposing is an excellent new development which will bring the hospital into the 21st Century, which is long overdue."

Eric Fehily, RNOH redevelopment project director said: "Under the current plans, a small proportion of land from the current site will be sold to make way for housing, including much-needed affordable housing for key-workers such as doctors and nurses.

"The plans are now with the Department of Health with an announcement as to whether the scheme will get priority in early July.

"The £120 million scheme will provide much needed new facilities that will allow the RNOH to maintain and develop its internationally recognised standards of patient care and research in orthopaedics, for the benefit of local people and the NHS as a whole."