THE county’s hospital trust has said its ability to offer care would take a hit if it does not receive more than £7 million from housing developers and has called on the council to rethink its decision.

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust was told its request of £7,723,287 from developers building almost 5,000 new homes as part of several Worcester urban extensions was ‘too late’ by Malvern Hills District Council who have recommended councillors reject the bid.

The hospital trust has said it was “concerned” its position had not been presented correctly in a council report published earlier this week and said the timing of the request was “irrelevant.”

A spokesman for the hospital trust said: “We are concerned that the report does not present our position accurately, either to councillors or the public.

“The development will clearly lead to an increase in demand which will impact on our trust.

“Without a section 106 contribution to mitigate this, the financial burden will be shifted to us and this will impact on our ability to provide high quality, timely care to the communities we serve.

“The report discusses the timing of our consultation response - which we submitted over six months ago – but we do not believe the timing of our request is relevant when considering the impact these developments will have on the delivery of healthcare to our local population.

“The report mentions the absence of a specific policy within the South Worcestershire Development Plan (SWDP) but does not refer to the relevant material within the National Planning Policy Framework which should be of significant material planning consideration.

The spokesman for the trust also said it was “not responsible” to challenge the government over national funding policy.

The spokesman said: “The report states that we should seek funding from central government to mitigate the impact of the development. But it is not the responsibility or remit of the trust to challenge national funding policy, or central government’s responsibility to mitigate the impact created by this development.

“In light of the above points, we are asking the council to consider amending their report and circulate the relevant information prior to their meeting.”

The huge developments, which were approved between 2017 and January this year, include a massive £500 million, 2,204-home 'super village between St Peter's and Kempsey, a 255 homes plan next to the A4440 on the edge of the city and two massive plans in Lower Broadheath which total 2,365 homes.

Malvern Hills District Council planning committee meets on Wednesday (August 14) to discuss the plan.