Frenchay rehab facility unbuilt seven years after NHS pledge

This land in Frenchay is earmarked for a rehabilitation unit

Campaigners who fought to stop the closure of Frenchay hospital said the NHS had not fulfilled its pledge to build a health facility on site.

Plans for a replacement community hospital were dropped in 2013.

It was decided instead to build a rehabilitation unit on site but no visible progress has taken place.

The local Integrated Care Board (ICB) said it remained "committed to our plans for new rehabilitation facilities on the Frenchay site".

Southmead Hospital is under severe pressure, as many are across the country, and a third of beds are currently blocked by patients fit for discharge.

Campaigners said given the need to relieve pressure, they could not understand why a rehabilitation centre with in-patient beds was such a long way off.

Barbara Harris (left) has been campaigning for years to increase hospital capacity in Bristol

Campaigner Barbara Harris has been pushing for the unit to be built for years.

She said: "All we're left with is a minor injuries unit, and an 800-bed acute hospital that has 300 bed blockers in it."

"Small wonder that ambulances are queuing," she added.

Another campaigner, Daphne Havercroft, said there was a lack of scrutiny by South Gloucestershire Council: " It has not come under Health Scrutiny (Committee) since January 2020."

She added: "If the councillors aren't taking an interest, what message is that sending to local people?"

A spokesperson for South Gloucestershire Council said: "We are committed to working closely with our partners at North Bristol NHS Trust (NBT) and the NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire ICB around the future development of rehabilitation and extra care facilities at Frenchay and improving health and care provision across the whole of South Gloucestershire is a priority for the council."

The new ICB that runs services in Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire said the facility was also very much in its plans, although no construction date has been given for it.

It would be part of a broader scheme to increase community rehabilitation, allowing more people to leave hospital earlier.

An ICB statement said: "Reducing delayed discharges from hospital remains a high priority for our system and we are continuing to invest in measures to improve discharge processes, reduce length of stay, and ensure that everyone can move on from hospital once they are medically well enough to do so."