DORSET could be in line for money to develop 12 community hospitals according to Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

In an interview with a national news organisation the Prime Minister said the county – which already has 12 community hospitals – would get a slice of £100 million in "seed funding" to pay for working up detailed plans for the hospitals.

It means the NHS could receive money to put forward a bid and then, if the bid was accepted, it would be allowed to progress its plans.

However, in a new announcement yesterday, the government adjusted the original statement to say the seed money would go to Dorset Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust for “various (potentially 12) community hospitals”.

The Prime Minister and the government did not reveal where any proposed new hospitals would be, which hospitals might be included in the plans, or how much any eventual bill for the proposed project might be. Mr Johnson also did not explain if they would be new hospitals or aligned to the county’s 12 existing community hospitals.

The Prime Minister did claim his government was embarking on "the biggest hospital building programme in a generation" which would "transform" the NHS for patients and staff.

Mr Johnson said the Government would be spending £13 billion on what officials described as "new" hospitals, either with entirely new buildings or gutting existing structures to create state-of-the-art facilities.

Taken alongside the extra £33.9 billion the Government has committed to the NHS each year by 2023, he said it was "the largest sum that has ever been invested in the NHS".

Mr Johnson said the plans would begin with a £2.7 billion cash injection for six hospitals over the next five years.The remaining projects, including up to a dozen smaller rural hospitals, would be completed over the second half of the next decade, it was claimed.

Tim Goodson, Chief Officer NHS Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group, which oversees health spending in the county said there had been little detail. “We are pleased to hear that Dorset will be awarded some national funding; however, at this stage we are not aware of any more detail, therefore we can’t provide any more information until we get this,” he said.

A spokesman for Dorset HealthCare, which is the focus of the proposals said: “Investment in the NHS is always welcome and we look forward to more detail coming through in due course.”

The announcement comes just three years after Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group – which is responsible for the finances and planning of the county’s healthcare – published its transformation plan which included proposals to streamline hospital care in the county.

Its most controversial proposal was the downgrading of Poole’s A&E department to an Urgent Treatment Centre and moving the most serious A&E cases to a new Emergency Department at Bournemouth.

However, the plans also proposed the closure of St Leonard’s Hospital near Ferndown, the planned closure of the Linden unit in Weymouth, and Portland Hospital.

A public outcry meant the CCG recommended keeping the existing community hub and beds at Shaftesbury Hospital as well as Westhaven Hospital, amid concerns over the cost of transferring staff and services to Weymouth Hospital.

Following its review, Dorset CCG confirmed: “Our proposals are to have 12 sites across Dorset; seven community hubs with beds which will have a wide range of facilities including outpatients and diagnostics. We will also have an additional five hubs without beds which will have a range of outpatient services, co-location of staff and could be used by a range of other local community resources.”

Mr Goodson confirmed that there have been no hospital closures since the Clinical Services Review decisions were made.