MALDON health hub, first promised to residents more than 20 years ago, has a new target date for delivery of the first phase of the project – 2024.

The first part of the plan to build the hub, originally described as "a new community hospital" for the area, will be to provide new "fit for purpose" premises for Blackwater Medical Centre. In 2016, the target date for the opening of the new facility was 2020.

Now Mid Essex Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), which funds health services in Maldon and is ultimately responsible for their provision on behalf of NHS England, said: "We cannot give a fixed timescale for the project due to the uncertainties around the pandemic and the South Maldon Relief Road but the current aim is to deliver the first phase of the project in 2024."

The health hub has been promised to Maldon residents for well over 20 years and was originally planned to provide a mix of primary and secondary health care services.

Primary health care services include GP practice, pharmacy, dental and eye care. Secondary services are usually based in a hospital or clinic and can include planned surgery, specialist clinics and rehabilitation.

Two main sites have featured in the plans so far: St Peter's Hospital, Spital Road, which would require substantial redevelopment and an area of land close to Morrison's at Wycke Hill.

But progress on the project has repeatedly stumbled into difficulties, including decisions on which site to use, exactly which services should be based there and whether hospital beds should be included or not.

The last update on the progress of Maldon Health Hub came in November, 2019, when Mid Essex Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) published a press release telling of "significant progress in the project to deliver a new health hub for Maldon."

Since then, the Covid-19 pandemic has seen a further delay to progress.

In a statement to Maldon Nub News, a spokesperson for Mid Essex CCG said: "We continue to work closely with partners including Maldon District Council on taking health hub plans forward. Detailed due diligence work for the preferred site was interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic response but has now restarted.

"The project will progress in phases so delivery of the new facility can be more efficient. The first phase will be to provide the Blackwater Medical Centre with fit-for purpose premises, with later potential to deliver a solution for wider NHS primary care network and community services."

A spokesperson for Maldon District Council said: " "The creation of a health hub is reliant on the health partners as the providers of the health provision, to finalise their decision on how the new health hub will be delivered, how it will operate and what services it will provide.

"The council has re-joined the health hub project group, which not only includes all of the key health partners but also representatives of the patient reference groups. Rest assured that the council would like to see this project come forward as soon as it can to ensure that the district benefits from a new health hub facility that is long overdue."