A NEW hydrotherapy pool at Holy Cross Hospital in Haslemere, which could benefit people in Surrey, Hampshire and Sussex, could be ready within 18 months. An application for planning permission for the pool, which would be at the hospital, has been lodged with Waverley Borough Council. Featuring a state-of-the-art pool as well as a physiotherapy unit, the building should be completed by spring 2008 if these plans get the green light. While the pool would mainly be used to help the 40 severely disabled patients at the hospital, it will also welcome patients who have been referred to them by the NHS, physiotherapists and other hospitals - a feature that will be unique to the Holy Cross pool. Outpatients must first go through an assessment at the hospital to see that they would benefit from using the pool, but this still means the hospital will have the ability to serve more people than just its own patients. Hospital chief executive Christopher Hinton said: "We believe that the addition of a hydrotherapy pool here will bring enormous benefit, not only to our inpatients, but also to people both locally and further afield, for whom the option of hydrotherapy as a supplementary treatment will speed their recovery or help with long-term illness. "All of us are really looking forward to having a new opportunity to provide services to help people locally. "The more specialised nature of our work means for a few years we have become rather less-known in the area than we used to be." Clinical services director Carol Fowlie added: "In striving to give patients the very best treatment, hydrotherapy is an excellent way to help maintain joint movement in a non-stressful environment. "We will be very conscious throughout the build process to keep disruption to a minimum in order to retain the tranquil atmosphere that the hospital gives its inpatients and their families." She also pointed out that while the pool will be open to people who are not inpatients, they must still be assessed at the hospital. However, the pool, which will measure eight metres by five metres, will be large enough to hold groups of people. Mrs Fowlie explained that some people benefit more from being in a social environment, so patients with similar conditions could be treated in group sessions in the 33-degree centigrade water. Sister Mary Agnes, trustee of the congregation, said: "Our mission is to serve people who are sick or suffering, and the pool will be a wonderful addition to the service we are able to offer. "We hope that many patients will benefit and that their families will be able to see the difference that treatment brings. "At the time we planned the hospital in 1992 it was our original vision that we would build a hydrotherapy centre. We are so grateful to those whose generosity has made it possible to do so now." Cash for the project has come from several charitable donations, and work on the plans is well under way. Architects Frederick Gibberd Partnership have submitted plans to Waverley Borough Council, while Cameron Taylor has been given the role of structural, mechanical and electrical engineer. Both have experience of building in the healthcare industry. If the plans are accepted quickly, the hospital hopes to have the building finished by spring 2008. People who could benefit from using the pool include stroke victims or patients with arthritis or hip, knee or back problems.