Hospital beds could be cut as trust reviews services

Councillor Adam Boyden and Anna Sabine MP have started a petition against the planned changes

The number of inpatient beds at two community hospitals could be cut by a third if proposals go ahead.

Somerset NHS Foundation Trust has confirmed it is in the "very early" stages of a consultation to reduce beds at Frome Community Hospital from 24 to 16, with a similar number of beds under threat at West Mendip Hospital in Glastonbury.

The trust said it was looking at the "mix and balance" of its community services after an "increase" in people being cared for at home.

However, MP for Frome and East Somerset Anna Sabine has set up a petition to stop what she described as "short-sighted" proposals, which she claimed could also see a number of job cuts.

Ms Sabine, who has launched the petition alongside councillor for Frome North Adam Boyden, claimed the closures were being proposed because too few patients were being discharged from Bath's Royal United Hospital (RUH) to Frome.

But she said that when she toured the RUH - which is run by a different NHS authority to Frome - she was told their main problem is that they do not have suitable places to discharge patients into.

"We know the Royal United Hospitals struggle to discharge people and yet we're closing beds which would help this," she said.

Ms Sabine said she is concerned that there is "a lack of joined up discussion" between Somerset NHS and the RUH.

'Well thought out plan'

However the MP for Glastonbury and Somerton, Sarah Dyke, whose constituency includes West Mendip Hospital, has given the proposals a cautious welcome.

She said while she understood residents might be "concerned" at the planned bed closures, after an urgent meeting with the hospital trust's chief executive last week she believed the "overall direction of movement" was "the right one".

"He has reassured me that this isn't a cost cutting exercise, but part of a well thought out strategic plan to shift reliance on community beds, moving the balance of care back to the home. But only when people are well enough to leave acute care within the hospital setting."

She added that she understands "the funds and staff previously used for community hospital beds will be redeployed to make sure there are enough services in the community to facilitate this shift".

Frome Community Hospital opened in 2008

But Ms Sabine said while Somerset NHS Foundation Trust has promised more services at community hospitals across the county - this is not necessarily for Frome.

"We suffer a little bit from being on the edge of Somerset and working with a hospital that is not in control by the same organisation and therefore we haven't had that guarantee," she said.

"It worries me that this is another example of Frome being short changed."

She said the "short-sighted" approach to reduce beds in Frome did not take into account the difficulty people have getting to the RUH by public transport.

"Our hospitals don't need fewer beds, they need proper investment," she added.

There are 24 inpatient beds at Frome Community Hospital

Somerset NHS Foundation Trust told the BBC the proposal aims to "ensure" community care is offered "in the most appropriate setting".

A spokesperson said there has been an increase in people receiving care at home in recent years as well as "significant investment" in services to support patients at home following an acute hospital admission.

"We are therefore looking at the range, mix and balance of NHS services that are provided in people's own homes, community hospital services and community hospital beds," they said.

"As a result, we are adjusting the number of beds that we are providing in some community hospitals to better match the demand, which includes a proposed reduction of eight beds at Frome Community Hospital, from 24 to 16.

"Alongside this, we are also looking at what other services we could provide in our community hospital settings, that are currently provided in the two main acute hospitals as we look to provide services more locally where it makes sense and is feasible to do so."

A Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust spokesperson said: " We are committed to working with our partners to provide the people we care for in Somerset with the support they need while they are in a an acute hospital setting as well as in the community."