THE PCT's new strategic direction looks like being good news for Chippenham, where the community hospital could be transformed into a mini general hospital.

Planned new departments, including a hi-tech new emergency treatment centre, might mean new buildings for the hospital, some parts of which have become dilapidated.

Elderly and mentally impaired patients are also set to get a boost, with new beds and improved standards of care.

A total of 43 intensive rehabilitation beds are planned, together with 20 beds in the stroke unit and 16 beds for elderly mentally ill people. A day hospital is also planned as part of an intermediate care service

To facilitate its new roles and an expected influx of patients from Malmesbury and Devizes hospitals, Chippenham Hospital would change radically, upgrading its minor injury unit to a Primary Care Emergency Centre .

Equipped with more staff than the current casualty unit, the centre would also include emergency nurses, who would be able to deal with more patients and cut the number of referrals to Bath's Royal United and Swindon's Great Western hospitals.

Under the new plans, Chippenham would also provide more intensive out-patient clinics, house further specialist in-patient beds for orthopaedic and neurology patients and provide specialist palliative care for the terminally ill, through links with Winsley's Dorothy House Hospice.

The new centre could also enable elderly patients who are brought in and need a referral, to be looked after at home overnight courtesy of a new overnight nursing service, instead of being admitted to hospital.

PCT chief executive Barbara Smith labelled the plans for Chippenham "good news" and said that the new improved Chippenham Hospital would be able to cope with any extra demands made upon it, while expansion would also benefit local people.

"In-patient facilities as they stand mean there is a lot of pressure on Chippenham Hospital, with lots of people waiting to go into the next stage of care," she said.

"But by providing increased care at home and in care homes, we will free-up more beds for people needing rehabilitation it is exciting news."

A decision on the maternity unit will be made in September and uncertainty, still exists on the issue of mental health provision in Chippenham.

The PCT has plans for 16 mental health beds at Chippenham Hospital as well as a phoneline for mental health patients, but Rowden Hill House, a day centre for more than 100 patients, looks likely to close because of the high cost of running it.

Elizabeth Sexton, the chair of the hospital's League of Friends, said she feels enthusiastic about the hospital's possible expansion.

"Chippenham is a growing town and it will continue to grow in the years to come," she said. "So the plans to expand the hospital's facilities are a good idea.

"The League of Friends has also expanded its remit over the years, as the hospital has grown.During the last two decades, the hospital at Rowden Hill has taken on departments and facilities previously housed at the old hospital in London Road, Frogwell Hospital and Greenways Maternity Hospital.

"And from raising money for equipment for people being treated in the hospital, we have also done so for people being treated in the community. This ties in with the PCT's proposals to expand rehabilitation services.