THE new Wellesley Hospital at Chelston, near Wellington, which is creating 225 jobs, will soon be opening its doors to the public.

The builders will be leaving the site shortly and Partnership in Care has already taken charge of the £20 million facility.

A spokesman for Partnership in Care said yesterday: “We are pleased to confirm that the contractors, Montpelier Estates, have now handed over Wellesley Hospital to us and we expect the builders to be finished onsite in the next couple of weeks. We will soon be planning some open days on site and look forward to start marketing the service later in the year.

“We are currently recruiting for a variety of job roles at the new service and welcome applications via www.piccareers.co.uk

“In terms of opening dates: We are currently working with the local health services to define the type of service required. At this point we don’t have a definite open date, though we expect this to be early in the new year.”

Recruitment has been in full swing to fully equip the 75-bed hospital which is just off the roundabout near the M5.

The hospital will provide treatment and rehabilitation for patients with a broad range of mental health problems, ranging from learning disability and acquired brain injury to acute mental illness. When fully up and running, the hospital will provide much-needed facilities as the South-West has the lowest provision of secure beds in England, with just one bed per 27,000 head of population, compared to the East of England which has one per 5,000 head of population.

The hospital is expected to generate between £4 and £5m a year to the local economy.

It will soon become one of Wellington’s biggest employers. Although many of the jobs will be specialists’ posts, a number of vacancies will be available to unskilled staff who will require ‘training support’.

The new hospital is being built on the rapidly expanding Westpark 26 which is attractive to business because of its proximity to the motorway.

n Partnerships in Care is one of the largest and most experienced providers of specialist, secure and step-down care across the UK.

With hospitals around the country, 30 years of experience and highly experienced teams, it helps patients and commissioners find the right care pathways, without the need for multiple reassessments.