More than £1 million is set to be spent on improving public transport to the proposed South Bristol Community Hospital.

The announcement came at a public meeting to discuss progress on the long awaited £54 million Hengrove hospital last night.

More than 50 people packed into the Withywood Centre to hear representatives from Bristol City Council, NHS Bristol and other health care organisations involved in the much delayed scheme.

Work had been due to begin earlier this year, but due to the recession the project team faced a number of unexpected problems that have pushed the hospital back two years to an expected 2011 opening date.

The 60-bed hospital was supposed to have been prefabricated off-site in a year but when a deal with the German contractor fell through, construction time was doubled.

Hospital project director Ben Bennett, of NHS Bristol, told the audience he hoped work would begin early in the new year, and that the project was in its "endgame".

He said: "The big question people have been asking me is 'when are we going to get our hospital?'.

"We've had some delays, primarily due to the global financial situation.

"It will still be the same hospital, it will still be in the same place and it will still provide the same services.

"The last bit is the hardest bit but we're working to avoid any further slippages."

Mr Bennett said a revised business plan would be submitted to the Government for approval this week.

This decision is expected to take up to eight weeks and will then allow NHS Bristol to secure funding from the scheme from one of a number of banks that have expressed interest.

The new hospital will provide a range of services, including a walk-in centre like the one currently operating in Knowle West.

Anyone will be able to drop in from 8am to 8pm – they will not have to be registered or have an appointment.

But a number of people in the audience expressed concerns about how people who do not live in Hengrove would get there.

Parking will be provided at the site, but it will not be free.

City council project manager for Hengrove Park, Andrew Tyas, said that public transport would receive a significant boost from money developers provide for the benefit of the community when building major schemes, through planning deals known as through section 106 agreements.

He said: "There are no concrete plans yet, so routes haven't been decided.

"But there is a substantial amount of money in place, just over £1 million to cover subsidies to bring the services to the site.

"There will be public meetings to discuss public transport for Hengrove phase one very early in the new year."

Other section 106 money will be spent on public art.

But members of the public in attendance made their views clear; if buses are to be provided, they don't want them to be First buses.

One speaker, who asked not to be named, said: "We would like more community buses than First. First buses have always been unreliable around here – we don't like them."