A health and social care village in Dover is closer now than it has ever been.

That is the message from Lydden GP Darren Cocker, who is also the chairman of the NHS South Kent Coast CCG.

He said proposals for a dementia village and a “step up, step down” facility on the Buckland Hospital site could offer intermediate care and extra beds to free up hospitals.

He said: “We are closer to that than we have ever been. It wouldn’t be small, it will have to be large enough to support the Dover area.

“We don’t have enough nursing home beds in this area anyway. We’re working through how we can increase the number of nursing home beds.”

This comes after MP for Dover, Charlie Elphicke, said he has been in talks with doctors and the East Kent Hospital Trust about providing a health and social care village at the old Dover hospital.

Dr Cocker explained that a preference for this kind of care is happening nationally, with a need to bring together health and social care and the idea of a “cottage” or community hospital.

He said: “We’re starting to look at ways of managing people closer to home, that’s the exciting developments that we should see at Buckland – not blocking the hospital with people who, with modern technology, could be managed in a completely different way.

“That’s just the way the NHS is changing nationally. We are not doing anything different here in Dover – but trying to push it quicker.”

He claims the next obstacle could be funding and the hospital trust and Mr Elphicke is looking for investors to come forward.

Dr Cocker added: “There is frustration from the public who thinks that it’s not quick enough and I completely get that but we have to justify our decisions.”

Discussions are on-going to determine how many beds would be needed and what services could be provided. As part of the talks, there are also plans to progress the new Buckland Hospital and these could come into effect in the next year or two.

“It’s not as trailblazing as promised and we share that frustration.

“We are looking at what the breadth of services could be there. There could be more than there currently is. That site will come into its own over the next one to two years.”

The new Buckland Hospital has received negative feedback since it opened last year and there have been concerns about a lack of beds.