HEALTH chiefs are due to make a decision within the next week whether to re-open one of just two wards at Minehead Hospital that has been out of action for almost six months. The hospital has been managing patients within a mixed 15-bed ground floor unit since staffing shortages forced the closure of the first floor ward just after Christmas. But now there are fears that the on-going closure may continue on financial grounds after suitably qualified nurses are understood to have expressed interest in the staffing vacancies. A spokesman for the Somerset Coast Primary Care Trust (PCT) said on Tuesday that no decision had yet been taken on the future of the closed ward. But, she added, the situation would become clearer after meetings with key stakeholders, including staff and patient and public representatives, which had been set up for the coming week. "There is no change at the moment," she said. Somerset Coast PCT chairman Christine Dore told the Free Press that any decision would be linked to the results of monitoring of the use of beds at the hospital that had been carried out. "The closure was due to a lack of staff but we have been monitoring the use of beds very carefully," said Mrs Dore. "We have found that having the second ward closed has not caused undue problems for the hospital, so we are really looking at the need for it. "The hospital has been well used but it does not appear to have needed the second ward. "The staffing of two wards on two different levels is not just to do with costs, it is also about logistics." Mrs Dore said, as was well known, the PCT was currently in the process of developing a business plan for a new hospital in Minehead. "We hope to begin consultation with key stakeholders on this by September."