REAL progress is being made on choosing a site for York’s new mental hospital.The original 12 sites have been whittled down to just three: the original Bootham Park Hospital site itself; a site near Clifton Park Hospital off Shipton Road; and one in the Haxby Road area.

Over the next 12 weeks, local people are being asked to help make a final decision on where the new hospital will be.

The Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust (TEWV), which now runs mental health services in York, is also asking people for views on the hospital’s design and layout. Seven public meetings are being held, in York, Pocklington, Selby and Easingwold, and people can also have their say online.

A deadline of December 16 has been set - and the aim is still to have the new hospital open by 2019.

The way Bootham Park Hospital was allowed first to deteriorate and then abruptly close was shambolic. As we have said before, too many managers from too many NHS organisations were unable to agree what to do, then panicked. The sudden closure caused enormous upset and disruption for vulnerable mental patients - which continues to this day.

But at least TEWV, which took over running mental health services after the hospital had closed, does now seemsto be getting its act together.

It is important that people who will use the hospital - patients and their families - have their say on the location and design to ensure it’s fit for purpose.

But once the consultation is over, TEWV must waste no time in cracking on with getting the hospital designed and built.