PLANS are well advanced for a £50 million private hospital in the county.

The 36-bed hospital would be built at Ashford's Eureka Business Park and create more than 100 jobs.

Backers say the hospital would work closely with the town's William Harvey Hospital and offer facilities to NHS as well as private patients.

It is the idea of the Centres of Clinical Excellence, a body made up of more than 600 medical professionals, around 60 from the Ashford area, who are partners in the scheme and want to provide a new kind of healthcare.

Staff would also become partners in the new venture, gaining a share of any profits in a similar way to staff employed by John Lewis, the retail partnership.

The new hospital is one of 20 being built by CCE across the UK over the next few years. CCE is also creating new clinics, with one already in the pipeline for Whitstable and another possibly alongside the proposed hospital in Eureka Park.

The new hospital building will be designed by leading UK architects Sir Michael Hopkins, Lord Foster and Lord Rogers.

Hopkins has created a number of iconic buildings, including the Mound Stand at Lord’s Cricket Ground, Glyndebourne opera house in east Sussex, and the Evelina Children’s Hospital in London.

The aim is to create a distinctive building over two or three storeys with plenty of natural light, a courtyard and bedrooms with views over the countryside.

Unveiling plans at a launch event in Eastwell Manor, Boughton Aluph, CCE architect Rory Coonan said the new project would “put the hospitality back into hospital.”

“It will be a stunning building for Ashford that will attract international attention. It’s a sizeable investment in Ashford because we believe in Ashford’s future. It’s the right time to do it.”

A planning application will be made to Ashford Borough Council in the autumn.