A REPORT has suggested that Thornbury Hospital could see a large improvement in the number of NHS rehabilitation beds than previously planned.

The announcement has proposed 44 NHS beds for the site, which is funded in partnership between the NHS and local council. A large increase from the 6-8 beds that were put forward in previous discussions back in 2011.

“Having been born and brought up in the Thornbury area, it’s been incredibly frustrating to witness a number of false dawns on the future of Thornbury Hospital and disappointingly little progress over the years,” said Cllr Toby Savage, Chairman of South Gloucestershire Council’s Health Scrutiny Committee.

“However, over recent months, there’s been a real sense of momentum for our campaign for better local health services.”

The report has been drawn up by a partnership consisting of the doctor-led South Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group, South Gloucestershire Council, North Bristol NHS Trust and Sirona and also focuses on the site at Frenchay.

The proposals will be subject to further detailed work before a decision will be made by the NHS and local council in March 2016.

“Whilst it’s important to stress that these partnership agencies are continuing with their detailed financial and health modelling work up until March, these new emerging proposals around future bed numbers and new facilities on the Frenchay and Thornbury Hospital sites are hugely encouraging because they represent an enormous improvement over previous proposals,” said Cllr. Savage.

“We need to be constantly reviewing what the need for the site is, we need to meet the demand of the rapidly aging and growing population.”