THURROCK Nub News understands an official statement is to be made today about the future of Orsett Hospital – with speculation that the whole site is to be closed.

Yesterday (Tuesday, 11 August), Thurrock Nub News contacted the hospital's operators, the Mid and South Essex Hospitals Trust, about rumours that the community hospital's much-used minor injuries unit is to be closed.

Today sources close to the Trust have told us the closure could be of the whole site.

The decision appears to have been made by the recently-created Essex Integrated Care Board, which has confirmed that an announcement is due – but has given no details of what it is.

The future of the hospital has been in doubt for more than a decade – with its eventual closure widely regarded as a certainty.

However, the caveat has always been that the hospital, which is massively outdated and in need of reparation works estimated at well over £10 million, would not close until all its services had been relocated to other centres within Thurrock.

The hospital was supposed to be replaced by an innovative scheme involving the creation on integrated care centres spread across the borough. They were due to be located in Corringham, Purfleet, Grays and Tilbury. However, only the Corringham site was built as the scheme floundered and was scrapped because of costs.