Number of hospital beds set to drop

10:49am Tuesday 2nd September 2008

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THE number of hospital beds in the region will drop in the next decade despite a massive housebuilding programme, Northavon MP Steve Webb has warned.

Mr Webb has slammed the NHS for not accounting for the 33,000 new homes which are expected to become a Government directive later this year whilst planning the opening of the new super hospital at Southmead.

He said North Bristol NHS Trust had "added insult to injury" for people in South Gloucestershire.

Mr Webb said: "It is common sense that if tens of thousands of new homes are built in our area, we will need a lot more hospital beds.

"In particular, with a vast expansion of housing in South Gloucestershire, it is madness to be closing Frenchay - South Gloucestershire’s only major hospital.

"To add insult to injury, the proposed ‘super-hospital’ at Southmead will not be nearly large enough to cope with the demands of the vast increase in the local population."

He added: "There is still time to re-think these short-sighted plans."

Following his own investigation, Mr Webb has projected there would be 250 less beds in the area by the time the hospital opens in 2013.

However, the trust said it had used the most accurate housing figures available during planning for the biggest shake-up to health services in the region for decades.

Director of projects David Powell said: "North Bristol NHS Trust is confident that our plans for the new hospital at Southmead are capable of responding flexibly to potential growth in housing numbers.

"We have used the best available projections for population and housing growth in the area to inform our plans about the facilities needed in the new hospital."

He said there would be 70 less beds across Southmead and Frenchay hospitals when the super hospital opens, a drop from 1,300 to 1,230.

"The local NHS is changing how healthcare is provided in line with national developments," said Mr Powell. "We are providing more and more care in community settings, which means that fewer acute hospital beds are needed.

"Because of these changes, the future will not just be about building more beds but about providing care in different ways."

Mr Webb will lead a debate on housebuilding in the West of England in Parliament next month and has pledged to challenge ministers over the lack of hospital capacity.