AN £8 million extension to the Wellesley Hospital at Chelston is set to be handed over to the NHS in mid-November.

The new building, which is not expected to be fully operational until well into the New Year, is being erected by Montpelier Estates, the same developer which built the main hospital at Westpark 26, Chelston.

The new care and treatment facility will have 30 bedrooms and is being built on 1.2 acres of land next to the present hospital and behind Budgen’s convenience store and petrol filling station.

It will be a secure mental healthcare facility creating 45 full-time equivalent jobs on top of the 200-plus jobs at the main hospital.

It will accommodate individuals with learning difficulties and mental health issues, providing them with a feeling of ‘being at home’.

The Wellesley Hospital was built at a cost of £20 million and opened in May 2017, with an initial staff of 60, gradually increasing that number to 200 as it became fully functional. The extension to set to be handed over on November 17.

The Wellesley Hospital enables mentally ill patients to return to the South-West from hospitals all over the country and support them towards independence.

The building of the hospital provided a further boost to Chelston which has created hundreds of new jobs in recent years, helped by its proximity to the M5.

A new ‘drive-thru’ Costa opened by the Chelston roundabout, not far from the new hospital building, at the end of last year, while a new, single-story McDonald’s ‘drive-thru’ is also set to open on the Westpark site in January, creating 65 new jobs – the equivalent to 45 full-time workers.

Superstore giants Aldi and Lidl are also looking for a site in the area.