THE gap between the downgrading of Frenchay Hospital and the opening a new health and social care centre on the site has raised serious concerns among health watchdogs.

South Gloucestershire Council’s health scrutiny committee said it was encouraged by the district’s newly-established clinical commissioning group’s reaffirmed commitment to providing 68 rehabilitation beds at Frenchay, following a postponement of the project at the end of last year. But members said they were alarmed at the lack of plans in the interim months or years before they can be funded.

Councillors said the group’s offer to provide the beds at Southmead Hospital when the majority of other services currently at Frenchay are transferred there in 2014 would leave patients in the area with long distances to travel.

Cllr Sue Hope (Lib Dem, Cotswold Edge) said: “What is going to happen in the interim? What we are being told is that there will be no facility at Frenchay because it will be at Southmead.

“It looks like there will be one big vacuum at Frenchay.”

She added: “It just worries that we have this major new hospital opening in May and totally unacceptable transport plans to get to Southmead.

“There is no public transport and yet we are saying there is a possibility all the beds could be on the Southmead side. This is not good news.”

Cllr Terry Walker (Lab, Kings Chase) said: “I am reassured about the 68 beds we are going to be provided, I just hope they are going to be at Frenchay.

“I share the concerns that having these beds at Southmead would be unacceptable to people of South Gloucestershire.”

He added: “What was promised is in jeopardy. It is going to be very difficult to provide what was promised at Frenchay and that is what worries me.

“What we were promised when the Bristol Health Services Plan was drawn up in 2005 is not what is being provided.”

Ben Bennett, programme director of the South West commissioning support group, told councillors the health service wanted to provide the community beds but they had to be affordable.

“Having unertaken a review of the original plans for Frenchay and in light of a wider review of rehabilitation services, the CCG is committed t provided community beds at Frenchay.

“We want to put a marker down and say where we want to go to at Frenchay, but the caveat to wanting community beds there has to be that they are affordable.”

He said the group needed to make savings of £20.1million over the next four years and despite the community beds being in the original BHSP plans, there was no separate pot of money for Frenchay and the budget for Southmead’s new hospital included future plans for Frenchay.

Mr Bennett said he The rehabilitation beds would be primarily for elderly patients who have undergone routine surgery and knee replacements.