A NEW state-of-the-art hospital could be on the cards for the people of Basingstoke and north Hampshire within the next five years.

Hospital bosses want to replace the town hospital's ageing buildings because of an impending surge in elderly patients and the increasing demands of new technology.

Mary Edwards, chief executive of Basingstoke and North Hampshire NHS Foundation Trust, has told The Gazette that it is a case of either patching up the existing 400-bed hospital or building a new hospital.

"The preference is for a new hospital," said Mrs Edwards. "The largest challenge we face as a hospital is our building which is now showing its age."

One option is to renovate the building's main blocks, which date back to the early 1970s, and are older than some of the more modern facilities on the site, such as the Diagnostic Treatment Centre. But Mrs Edwards warned there is no guarantee that a renovation project would make the older buildings suitable for the future demands of modern healthcare.

The foundation trust is currently carrying out a detailed study into the design and funding of a new hospital. Mrs Edwards said: "It's all about whether we can generate enough money to press the go button."

A range of financial options that would fund a new hospital is being looked at, including selling the existing site, borrowing money and commercial funding.

While no precise figures have been mentioned, a new similar-sized hospital in Swindon, that cost about £200million, is being looked on as one model, although international examples of new hospital projects will also be examined.

"We need to start with a blank piece of paper and design a new hospital for modern healthcare needs," said Mrs Edwards.

If another location in the town or borough - rather than building on the existing site - is chosen as the way ahead, it is hoped that the new hospital could open by as early as 2014, in time for a predicted surge in elderly patients.

Population forecasts estimate the pensioner population in the borough of Basingstoke and Deane will rise by a quarter by 2014 - double the rate predicted for the rest of the country.

A large proportion of Basingstoke's population moved into the town in the 1960s and 1970s as part of the London overspill programme. Now these people are reaching an age where they will increasingly need more hospital care. And another batch of over-65s could come with the estimated 10,000 people due to move into the borough by 2014.

However, Mrs Edwards said the changing face of hospital care is as important a factor for how the hospital shapes up for the future. Advances in diagnosis and treatment technology and techniques and modern critical care facilities require specially designed units, she said.

Councillor Andrew Finney, the leader of Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, is supportive of the need for a new hospital. He said: "The current building is reaching the end of its useful life."

A decision about the feasibility of creating a new hospital in Basingstoke is expected in March next year.