NICK Hurd has backed campaigners fighting for a war memorial hospital, and now hopes its future will be decided by the new year.

The MP for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner said he will continue to fight for Northwood and Pinner Community Hospital, in Pinner Road, which was built in 1924 as a war memorial.

In a statement to the Gazette late last week, Mr Hurd said: “I am very concerned that the issue of the Northwood and Pinner Community Hospital is being kicked into the long grass.

“We were told that we would have a community health centre that would respect the war memorial.

“In Remembrance Week, I will be putting pressure on the NHS to explain how they intend to meet their commitments to the public.”

The hospital has been neglected since it was closed in 2008, after being deemed unfit for purpose by NHS Hillingdon.

In March, it emerged that during a meeting the trust had discussed selling the site, a move which sparked fury among people living close to the historic building.

NHS Hillingdon now states that it wants the hospital to be ‘a resource for the community’, but not to return to a working hospital.

A report published last week outlined options for the future, but failed to include any information about costs.

NHS Hillingdon spokesman, Duncan Stroud, said: “The full, commercially confidential report has been passed on to the team who are looking at developing more community based care in Hillingdon, taking into account all available NHS sites, including Northwood and Pinner.

“The team is due to reach initial conclusions in the new year as to where these centres should be based, taking into account cost and value for money.”

Suggestions for the site include a health and wellbeing centre, with interest being expressed by housing associations to develop flats on the site.

Tony Ellis, chairman of Northwood Residents’ Association, has long been fighting for the hospital to make a return to a caring role for the community.

“We are making as much noise as we can,” he said.

"Nothing has happened but somebody has got to put pressure on the NHS.

“Although they say they support the use of the hospital by the community, in fact they don't seem to want to be involved.

“It’s just like a ping pong ball going backwards and forwards across the net.”

And Northwood Hills Residents’ Association chairman, Andrew Riley, added: “We would like to turn it into a place that is health related and will stand the test of time for the community.

“It's a WW1 memorial and not something that the NHS can turn into a cash wrangle for themselves.”

A Hillingdon Clinical Commissioning Group report is expected in January, and Mr Ellis hopes the future of the community hospital will be safe soon after.