PROPOSALS to shut a number of community hospital beds, including in Chard, have been labelled ‘complete madness’.

David Laws MP has written to Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group urging it to scrap plans to permanently close beds in community hospitals in Chard, Crewkerne and South Petherton.

In November, the News reported on proposals to restructure community hospitals which could result in a loss of 40 beds in the county’s 13 community hospitals.

The Yeovil constituency MP said: “It is complete madness to have large numbers of community hospital beds closed, when these beds are urgently needed to move patients out of acute hospitals such as Yeovil and Taunton.

“The NHS should re-open all of the community hospital beds in Somerset, as a matter of priority, and make sure that no more beds are closed permanently.

“I am very worried by the review which suggests closing one third of community hospital beds, when it is clear that these beds are desperately needed.

“At present, big hospitals are having to cancel numerous operations because they are effectively ‘full’ and do not have spare beds for people to recover in after treatment.

“Community hospital beds allow larger hospitals such as Yeovil and Musgrove to discharge patients when their operations have taken place and free up beds for other patients needing treatment.

“We should not even be considering shrinking community hospitals when our acute hospitals are overflowing. I have written to the NHS Clinical Commissioning Group asking them to re-open all community hospital beds urgently and to drop any plans to permanently close hospitals such as Chard, South Petherton and Crewkerne.”

The announcements last year proposed one of three models for each facility:

  •  ‘Step-up’ community hospital beds – these would provide 24-hour care for people who do not require serious medical treatment and could also see enhanced inpatient and outpatient services.
  •  ‘Step-down’ community hospital beds – providing care for people who have been discharged from a district hospital such as Yeovil but who still need hospital-based rehabilitation and nursing care. These hospitals will keep the services they already have but would not get enhanced services.
  •  Health and Wellbeing centres – community hospitals which would offer a wide range of clinics and services but without inpatient beds.

Friends of Chard Community Hospital group chairman Nora Arnold is confident the facility will avoid future closures of beds.

She said: “The beds in Chard are extremely necessary because otherwise people visiting patients have to go such a distance and it costs, too.

“Keeping Chard Hospital beds open is essential and I believe the NHS understands this.

“There are plans ongoing to refurbish the hospital in time, so I am confident they won’t close our beds.

“The members of the group are spending much of their lives really fundraising for the hospital to plug the gaps for things that perhaps the NHS can’t provide. We see how important the facility is to patients and how grateful they are for it.”