09.01.18
Hospital closure plans knocked back by resident consultation
Gloucestershire Care Services NHS Trust’s plan to shut two of its community hospitals and replace them with a single facility has met with resistance from local residents.
A 12-week consultation on the £11m new facility found that only 43% of residents supported the plans while 46% rejected them.
Currently, the two hospitals in Dilke and Lydney contain a combined 47 beds, while the new facility is expected to have a “minimum” of 24 beds in comparison.
In a statement, campaign group Hands Off Lydney and Dike Hospitals (HOLD) commented: “Let’s turn the tables here in the Forest of Dean and save our two hospitals.
“Half the number of beds and one hospital instead of two will only exacerbate the crisis the NHS faces nationally.”
It is expected that a full report will be considered by the board of Gloucestershire Care Services and the governing body of NHS Gloucestershire CCG in public session at the end of January.
However, the trust has released a report following the consultation which suggests that the number of beds available was a major part of people’s unhappiness with the proposals, while travelling to a new location, community cohesion, and insufficient details on the plans also factored in to the results.
In light of the consultation results, the trust says it will discuss whether the project should be reconsidered, and whether it can continue with centralising the two hospitals and still deal with resident’s concerns through changes to the original plans.
Top image: Marbury
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