Hospital opening with no beds branded a 'fiasco'

The redevelopment and opening of a community hospital has been branded a "fiasco" by locals campaigning over the loss of inpatient beds.

The Ellen Badger Hospital in Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire, was demolished in 2022 and has been replaced by outpatient services, with beds transferred elsewhere in the county.

"We now have a large, new building, but not a hospital," said Alasdair Elliott, chairman of the Beds for Badger campaign group.

The NHS trust says the development was an "exciting investment" for the local community, supporting people out of an acute hospital setting "which we know improves outcomes".

Fundraisers donated £635,000 towards the new hospital, which the trust used to buy adjacent land for the redevelopment.

The fundraisers said when they made their donation, it was on the understanding it would include inpatient beds.

South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust (SWFT) has previously said the donation was not conditional of inpatient beds being provided.

Hundreds of campaigners, including GP and broadcaster Dr Sarah Jarvis, have been protesting about the lack of beds at the new hospital.

"The vast majority of the residents of Shipston-on-Stour and the surrounding rural community are furious the new building has the barefaced cheek to have the words Ellen Badger Hospital prominently displayed," added Mr Elliott.

"We can only assume that the signage was ordered some years ago when we were promised a brand new hospital to replace the existing one.

"We now have a fiasco which has been eight years in the making."

The new three-storey building will provide an activity space and a shared space for community nursing teams.

Clinics, including speech and language therapy, community midwifery and screening programmes will take place in treatment rooms, said the trust.

A new diagnostic hub at Stratford Hospital would be operational from 9 June, it added, which was "another example of bringing services closer to communities".

Follow BBC Coventry & Warwickshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.