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Tom Divers, the incoming chief executive of Glasgow’s new health authority, has spoken out in favour of building a brand new ‘super hospital;’ for the city, a proposal which has been steadfastly opposed by the current management.

Divers, formerly chief executive of Lanarkshire Health Board since 1996, is to take up his post in charge of the newly created NHS Greater Glasgow, which will replace the current Greater Glasgow Health Board and four health trusts in November.

He inherits a row over plans for health services in the city with the current management in favour of upgrading the site of the Southern General Hospital, while pressure groups support a new build option at a vacant site in Cowglen.

Divers said: "One of the challenges is to be able to move to the benefits that can come from the provision of facilities designed and built for the 21^st century." He continued to say that he had seen the benefits in Lanarkshire where "Law Hospital and Hairmyres Hospital have both been replaced by brand new sites".

Danny Crawford, the chief officer of the patients watchdog the Greater Glasgow Health Council, backed Divers and said: "Tom Divers is quite right to say there is a need for new buildings in Glasgow."

Divers statement is bound to add fuel to what has already been a controversial issue. The new hospital is only one part of a £500 million radical shake up of services in Glasgow with accident and emergency units being rationalised, the closure of one maternity hospital and replacing two general hospitals with walk-in day care centres.