Dismay as 15 hospital beds are cut (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Dismay as 15 hospital beds are cut

CAMPAIGNERS fighting to save inpatient care at Fairford Hospital accused medical chiefs of putting lives at risk this week.

Cotswold and Vale Primary Care Trust decided to close the 15 beds at the cottage hospital at a meeting in Cirencester on Tuesday.

Against the wishes of the entire community and ignoring a 3,574-strong petition, board members decided upon the most financially secure future for the hospital.

Instead, outpatient facilities are to be expanded in an effort to claw back some £700,000 of the PCT's £5.9million debts.

Nearly 300 residents left the Corn Hall meeting with their heads in their hands after the controversial decision was announced.

Eight alternative beds are to be made available at Cirencester Hospital, but the community at large feels betrayed by the health trust.

Fairford mayor Chris Roberts told fellow town councillors on Tuesday evening the PCT ignored all the points raised during the three-month consultation.

She said concerns about public transport, the needs of ageing population, and a possible flu pandemic were all brushed aside.

She said: "None of these points were discussed by the board. They were ignored and the board came to the same conclusions they were mentioning at the beginning of the consultation.

"They admitted that the decision was entirely finance driven, there was no other decision making process. It was favoured because they could save more."

However, the PCT has backed plans to build a new hospital in Fairford if land is made available and a private or voluntary organisation finances the building.

Fairford Hospital League of Friends has also offered to pay £75,000 to keep the beds open for another six months, while chairman David Phillips has talked about the possibility of taking the hospital over from the National Health Service.

The option of building a new facility in Fairford has proved popular during the consultation, but Mrs Roberts is apprehensive about the future.

She believes the pressure is now off the PCT to support the initiative, despite their assurances they will do so.

She said: "They have said they will, but they have lied about everything else. I feel very strongly about this: the board meeting was an absolute shame."

The PCT is required to show to the Department of Health it can pay off its debts before Gloucestershire's PCTs are merged later this year.

Chief executive Richard James said: "The PCT sees our community hospitals at the heart of a new model of healthcare we are developing to deliver better healthcare closer to home.

"In this new model the community hospital will provide a much wider range of healthcare services to a greater number of patients."