RECRUITMENT is in full swing to fully equip the new 75-bed hospital being built at Chelston, near Wellington, just off the roundabout near the M5.

It is to be called the Wellesley Hospital and 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 be staffed by 225 people. It is needed because 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, being built by Montpelier Estates, is set to be handed over to Partnership in Care at the end of July.

A spokesperson for Partnership in Care said: “A wide range of jobs are available. We expect to have our first patients towards the end of the year.”

The hospital is costing £20 million to build and is expected to generate between £4m and £5m a year to the local economy.

When finished the hospital will 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.