A REVIEW of the future of Skipton General Hospital which could lead to the site being redeveloped for health care is being resurrected.

It could result in the demolition of the existing buildings and a new purpose-built health facility being put in place.

A strategic review on the services provided by Skipton hospital began in 1997 but for the last two years it has been gathering dust awaiting progress.

Now Craven Primary Care Group, made up of local doctors and health and care providers, has been given approval to proceed with the review.

It is due to have a plan for the site ready for public consultation in July 2001. If approved by the regional health authority, capital funding would then be sought.

The hospital was opened in 1931 and is now a mix of old, converted property and 1960s purpose built accommodation which has been adapted over time. There are major difficulties with the buildings and local health workers would prefer to see major investment in a new purpose-built hospital.

There are currently 35 different departments or services based at Skipton, including beds for a unit providing intensive rehabilitation for patients following either trauma or neurological illnesses.

The announcement that the strategic review is to make progress was welcomed by the Primary Care Group at its meeting in Grassington this week.

Grassington GP Andrew Jackson said: "The project might not be off the ground yet but at long last it's at least flapping its wings."

Emma Thomas, the chief executive of Craven Primary Care Group, said that the review would focus on considering whether services based on Skipton would continue to meet the needs of Craven residents.

She stressed that it would not propose major changes to the level of services provided at Skipton but would look at how those services could be co-ordinated and integrated more effectively to provide better health care and well-being for the local population.

She ruled out closure as an option, saying that not only was there no space to take up the services and administration at Airedale, where there were already severe car parking difficulties, but that there would be "a massive outcry" if the review went down the closure route.

But a question mark does hang over the provision of beds at Skipton General.

Miss Thomas said: "Because Craven is so small it is a question whether you will have the critical mass to establish a ward which is viable financially."

However, she explained that the existing rehabilitation unit was a useful, and much appreciated service and the review would be bound to look at the advantages of retaining it.

Dr Julian Allen, chairman of Craven Primary Care Group, said the review had been sitting on a desk for the last 18 months but the mood had changed recently.

Among the services currently based at Skipton General Hospital are 27 consultant clinics, a day hospital for the elderly, a radiology department, a physiotherapy unit, occupational therapy, nutrition and dietary services, speech and language therapy, a chiropody department and children's audiology session with hearing aid assessment and fittings.

It is also the base for the primary care group, the community team for learning disabilities, the school and child health service department for Craven, a drug and alcohol clinic, family planning, ante-natal clinic, the district nurse out of hours service and the emergency doctors service.

It is proposed to undertake a separate review on the services provided at Castleberg Hospital in Giggleswick at a later date.