With the new Forest of Dean Community Hospital due to open in Cinderford next spring, Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust has shared more details for the transition.

The Forest of Dean will gain a new £11m facility on the former site of Collingwood Skatepark and play area, the new point of service replacing both of the Forest's Dilke Memorial Hospital and Lydney Community Hospital.

A spokesperson said: "The transition will begin within the next few months, with teams and services gradually moving out of the former hospitals to the new site. We had previously planned to move the existing X ray machine from Lydney hospital to the new hospital, meaning there would be a disruption to X ray services.

"However, having now agreed funding, we are in conversation with potential suppliers about installing a new machine, which should provide a smoother transition for X ray services in the Forest."

Plans for the existing hospital sites are also now clearer. 

The Trust has notified Forest of Dean District Council that it will first market Lydney Hospital for sale, followed by the Dilke Hospital, "at a later date". 

Meanwhile the Stonebury House part of Lydney Hospital site,, the Trust says, because it will continue to be occupied by several teams for "the foreseeable future".

Both former hospital sites have been registered as Assets of Community Value (ASVs) which means that they have recently been used and could be used in the future to further the social wellbeing or social interests of the local community.

Appealing to potental interested parties, the Trust said: "With the hospital sites being ASVs, this provides a six-week window for any community groups who wish to purchase the sites, or parts of them, to prepare and express an initial bid.

"As an NHS organisation, we must follow strict guidelines while disposing of sites that have become surplus to requirements. This includes generating best value - both financial and social - so that any capital can be invested in enhancing patient care while releasing public land for new use.

The Lydney Hospital site will be marketed by Alder King.