His call on all interested parties to get talking came after he attended a celebration, hosted by the hospital's League of Friends, to mark the success of the campaign to persuade Norfolk Primary Care Trust to keep the 18 intermediate care beds at Swaffham.

Afterwards, he said: "I was delighted to see so many people at the reception. It is clear from listening to their comments that everyone is as determined as ever to ensure that we find a long-term solution that will retain community hospital services in Swaffham.

"Following the Government's indication that it is minded to grant approval for the town council to sell allotment land, the time has come to consider how to move forward to address the PCT's view that the existing hospital is too small to be viable in the longer term, as the population of western Norfolk grows.

"I am contacting all the stakeholders to invite them to a meeting, which I intend to chair, at which we can discuss the options. I am confident that a round-table discussion will be helpful to all concerned.

"In the interests of the local community, we must work very carefully towards finding a match between what is required by the PCT and what is possible for the town. Swaffham needs a secure future for our community hospital."

Swaffham Town Council is seeking to declassify eight-and-a-half acres of allotment land at Day's Field and Shoulder of Mutton so that it can offer part of the site on a long-term lease to the PCT for a new hospital and sell the remainder for funds.

REVIEW

The PCT will be carrying out another review of intermediate care beds in West Norfolk next summer and the intervening period is being used to look at the possibility of providing a new hospital, with 24 to 26 beds to make it viable, in the town.

At the reception, Friends' chairman David Gulliver stressed the importance of going for a new, bigger hospital as the only way of ensuring the service stays in the town, as the PCT also wanted to bring in more clinics and diagnostic services.

He said it was important that "everyone with a vested interest", such as the town council, Breckland Council, the Friends and the PCT, started discussing where it could go.

"We have got to ensure that the hospital we have here continues until the new one is ready to take over," he said.

Mark Taylor, the PCT's director of provider services, said the trust was committed to involving patients, carers and other key stakeholders in the planning, and to listening carefully to what they say.