PLANS for a £60million replacement for the former Calderstones Hospital site and related units are set to be given the backing of NHS chiefs tomorrow.

Bosses at Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust, which took over the Whalley operation last year, have drawn up a full business case for a replacement medium secure unit at Maghull, on Merseyside.

This will now incorporate patients with mental illnesses and learning disabilities after NHS England confirmed it would not be commissioning any future services at Calderstones after more than 100 years.

Patients will be assessed on a case-by-case basis to see whether they will be looked after in the community or transferred to a new unit in the North West.

Union campaigners have questioned why Calderstone’s low-secure Maplewood unit, which is less than four years old and cost £7m, could not be considered as a viable alternative.

The proposed 123-bed at Maghull would also take in patients from the 16-bed medium secure unit Gisburn Lodge, near Gisburn, and the more extensive step-down services offered by the Scott Clinic at Norden, near Rochdale.

It is envisaged, subject to NHS England and NHS Improvement Authority backing, the Maghull unit would be constructed by December 2019 and patients could be transferred there by the following March.

Kathryn Berry, an independent consultant for Mersey Care, said: “The proposed clinical model for the medium secure service has been developed with clinical and operational leads from both secure and specialist learning disability divisions, in line with best practice and national policy and seeks to address future clinical and workforce challenges.

“In addition the local and national specialist commissioners have provided input, review and support in the development of the clinical model.”

Health chiefs have been particularly eager to replace the Scott Clinic as it said the accommodation there has ‘poor’ segregation for male and female patients, no en-suite facilities, a lack of access to therapeutic, physical or outdoor activities, as well as being isolated from the rest of the organisation’s estate.

Planning permission was granted by Sefton Council for the Maghull unit and the business case is expected to be ratified by the Mersey Care board tomorrow.