IT is good that members of the public are being consulted about the options for a new mental health hospital for York.

It's a shame they weren't consulted before panicked health bosses made the abrupt decision to close Bootham Park last autumn. But at least the Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust (TEWV) which now runs mental health care in York seems to have learned some lessons.

The people of York are being invited to give their opinion not only on the relative merits of the 12 potential sites for the new hospital, but also on the size and number of beds needed - and even the design of the building.

We welcome this apparent willingness to listen to what York people - and in particular, we hope, mental health service users and their families - say.

Consultation, however, must not be used as an excuse for delay.

The new hospital, we are told, is due to be opened in 2019. A temporary adult inpatient unit, meanwhile, will open in July. That will be better than continuing to send vulnerable mental health in-patients from York as far away as Middlesbrough for treatment - but it is no substitute for a proper mental health hospital here.

So by all means take the views of patients on board - particularly with respect to the location of the new hospital. But then get on with building the hospital without delay, please. Mental health patients in York have already been failed badly enough.