Derbyshire County Council has denied it planned to set up a private hospital at its Matlock headquarters.

The rebuttal came after the BBC reported the council's leadership had discussed a proposal to include private medical facilities in the regeneration for the County Hall, known as Smedley's Hydro.

Derbyshire County Council's cabinet member for business services, Cllr Stephen Reed said: ‘The Smedley's Hydro project aims to deliver a number of key benefits for the people of Matlock and the wider county, including jobs, affordable housing and more than £50m of private investment in the town.'

Plans to convert the building, which was used for health and wellbeing purposes in the Victorian era, into a hotel are due to be considered in the coming weeks but members of the council's leadership are believed to have reservations.

Reed added: ‘There are additional challenges as a result of changes in the national economic landscape, so we've been working with a number of interested partners keen to work with the council, including well known hoteliers, to test the assumptions in the business case and make sure that we understand and mitigate any risks.

‘We remain committed to the delivery of the project and the benefits it will bring and the next big step will be towards the end of the year when cabinet will choose their preferred master developer partner to work with us on the fine details of the project. However, we have no plans for the development of a private hospital.'

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has called for new funding models for the NHS but said the party would keep the system free at the point of use.

Lee Peart is editor of Hemming Group’s Healthcare Management magazine.