WEST Dorset MP Chris Loder has urged Government health bosses to build a new psychiatric care unit in the county.

Chris Loder asked the Minister for Health Ed Argar in the House of Commons if he would support the construction of a new psychiatric intensive care unit in Dorset.

The Minister confirmed that Dorset is a part of the Government’s plan to build 48 hospitals by 2030 – the biggest hospital building programme in a generation.

Mr Loder said: "Children and young people in desperately difficult situations need our help and support to treat them.

"It's so important we get the beds we need to help those children back to health and it is great news that Dorset is going to be part of that."

This news comes after many months of the West Dorset MP fighting to save the Minor Injuries Unit at the Yeatman Hospital in Sherborne - he succeeded and the A&E will now reopen in less than two weeks time.

He added: "Children in Dorset needing the highest level of inpatient psychiatric health care have needed to go far afield, away from their families who provide important support."