PLANS for £3m of improvements at a hospital will go before councillors next week.

The proposals will see the services provided at Malton, Norton and District Hospital, Hospital Road, Malton, brought under one roof for the first time.

The main alterations will be to the Fitzwilliam Ward, which is open-plan and offers little privacy for patients.

It will be transformed into a modern hospital ward, with private rooms and en suite facilities. There will also be a special care facility where an occupational therapist can assess patients before they go home and a relatives' room for overnight stays.

Other plans include a single-storey extension for minor injuries and outpatients and a small single-storey extension to create a storage area for the physiotherapy exercise room.

A liquid oxygen enclosure will be built on the site and parking for an extra 19 cars provided.

The physiotherapy and outpatients buildings will be demolished and temporary buildings holding medical records removed from the site.

Neighbours have raised concerns about parking and possible loss of trees.

But Ryedale District Council planning officer Carl Stott has recommended that the plans, put forward by the Scarborough, Whitby and Ryedale Primary Care Trust, be given the go-ahead.

He said: "These proposals represent a significant commitment to the existing hospital at Malton, with the erection of a new ward, an outpatients/minor injuries extension and a physiotherapy extension.

"The site is a well-established hospital complex and there is no objection, in principle, to the extensions proposed.

"In design terms, the scale and proportions of the new buildings are considered to fit well with the existing hospital buildings. They are relatively low-profile and inconspicuous from the outside of the site."

The Government awarded the trust £1.5m in 2002 as part of its plan to phase out open-plan wards by this year.

The planning application will go before Ryedale District Council's planning committee on Tuesday. The meeting starts at 6pm in the council chamber at Ryedale House, Malton.