WHITCHURCH Hospital will close within four years after health chiefs backed a plan to transfer inpatient mental health services to Llandough.

Part of the Whitchurch site will be sold off but the majority will continue to be a base for health and well-being services.

It is understood the site could house a locality health centre, similar to the one being developed at Cardiff Royal Infirmary, to serve the people of north Cardiff. And some of the land could be used to allow neighbouring Velindre Cancer Centre to expand.

In the meantime a new inpatient mental health unit will be built at Llandough Hospital to provide all inpatient services for patients in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan.

The closure of Whitchurch Hospital and the centralisation of inpatient care at Llandough Hospital, which will be subject to public consultation, comes as Cardiff and Vale University Health Board wants to develop a “recovery model” for mental health services.

The majority of care will be provided in the community.