Visiting hospital clinics for appointments could be transformed, according to healthcare professionals, under proposals to invest up to £900 million across hospitals in north and mid Hampshire.

The plans, which are currently out for public consultation, would see their outpatient departments developed into new one-stop clinics.

They would combine traditional outpatient departments with diagnostic tests and scans, such as cancer screening, MRI, ultrasound and X-ray, and therapy services, such as occupational therapy and physiotherapy.

Dr Dominic Kelly, consultant cardiologist and associate medical director for clinical strategy at Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Coming to an appointment in an outpatient clinic is by far the most frequent reason people come to hospital and we want to offer patients more choice about how and where they do so.

“As well as enabling us to provide safer and higher quality care, bringing specialised services together at a new hospital and planned services together at Winchester hospital would also make our teams more efficient.

“Patients could have multiple aspects of their care in one visit – such as their consultation, scan and result on the same day – and we would also aim to link any other appointments together, so people could see other members of their healthcare team the same day.

“As well as a comprehensive range of tests and scans, the clinics would be able to carry out some treatments and procedures. This means you could combine perhaps three or four traditional style outpatient appointments – with all the inconvenience they entail – into one trip.”

The consultation runs until midnight on March 17. To find out more, attend an event or complete the questionnaire, visit www.hampshiretogether.nhs.uk