A NEW community hospital for the East Riding has moved a step closer after health bosses backed a business plan for the £18 million project.

NHS East Riding of Yorkshire said the next stage of the scheme is to secure planning approval, after board members this week said they were happy with the full business case for the hospital in Beverley, which would also serve thousands of residents in surrounding areas such as Market Weighton.

Trust chief executive, Ivan Ellul, said: “The development is critical for our plans to deliver care closer to home; allowing us to bring more services out of larger hospitals and into the community.”

It is hoped the service could see its first patients in 2012.