Chief executive is challenged by the public

Councillor Jennifer Woolveridge, who represents Gerrards Cross on South Bucks District Council, said: "I would like you to say that you are absolutely, categorically saying that you wish to retain that site as an NHS provision. I would like reassurance that you will not sell it."

Mr Macalister-Smith replied: "Whichever way you look at it, it's not ideally designed for providing modern healthcare, so we should use this as an opportunity of asking local people about what is the right way of going forward. It's not just a hospital, it's a GP surgery and a road and a clinic. If you started with a blank sheet, we might come up with a much better way of organising things.

"You asked a very specific question. I don't think we know the answer to that question. If we are committed to having a range of services at Chalfont St Peter, and we need a significant site, logic would dictate that would be a sensible place to start with, but if we were to do something more substantial, or even if we were to do just the work recommended by the fire officer's report, we would need to come up with a significant amount of capital and clearly one of the ways of raising capital is through the sale of land."

Councillor Isobel Darby, of Chalfont St Peter Parish Council, told the board: "My big and real fear is that we will close down this ward, move these people to Amersham, and find that you can deal with them in an alternative location.

"Nearly every person in this room is going to need a hospital bed when they are old and vulnerable. I don't want to come back to another meeting in two years and hear that there's a cash crisis and we can't do anything about it.

"I'm really frightened."