THE closure of beds at Williton Community Hospital will secure the unit's future and give staff the opportunity to provide an additional services, health chiefs claimed this week.

Blood transfusions and intravenous drug treatments could all soon be carried out in Williton rather than in Taunton, while other additional day-care facilities could be on the cards.

Public pressure has also led to a rethink on original plans to mothball the hospital's palliative care facility, Grace's Room.

Instead, health bosses are now looking at "reorganising beds and space" to use the previously closed Brendon Ward rather than Dunkery Ward for the hospital's scaled-down bed provision.

That would allow Grace's Room to be brought back into use and for two other rooms to be used by relatives who need to stay on site to be close to hospitalised family members.

The details were revealed at a special public session of Williton Parish Council on Monday night, which saw councillors and members of the public questioning the decision to close one of the hospital's two wards and reducing bed spaces from 45 to 20.

Jan Hull, deputy chief executive of NHS Somerset, and Judith Brown, deputy chief executive of the Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, stressed there were no plans to close the hospital or make staff redundant.

They were quizzed alongside Williton GP Andrew Dayani, Bridgwater doctor David Rook of the Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group and Minehead doctor Ed Ford of the West Somerset GP Federation.

Around 30 people and members of the hospital's league of friends heard the health professionals answer questions about both the decision and impact of the closure.

Mrs Hull said the changes meant the hospital was now facing a "brighter future" and it was simply a case of matching demand and capacity.

"There are no plans to close Williton Community Hospital," she said. "The viability of the hospital is what we want to ensure.

"That is not about having the highest number of beds that we can provide.

"Viability is about having a whole range of services within the community."

Mrs Hull said there was a national drive to treat stroke patients at home to help them maintain their independence and speed recovery.

Medical research had shown patients who could be treated at home fared better and said the NHS was investing in its care-at-home services.

That, coupled with the opening of a dedicated stroke unit in South Petherton to cater for more patients from the Taunton area, meant there had been a drop in demand for beds at Williton.

As exclusively revealed in the Free Press last year, hospital owners the Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust decided to close the general Brendon Ward following a review.

That meant the former exemplar stroke unit, Dunkery Ward, would be split into ten dedicated stroke beds and ten general admission beds.

A further 12 beds would be kept open on 'standby' should demand increase.

At the time, health chiefs stressed the bed reduction was not a "cut in services" but an attempt to match bed capacity with demand.

Staff described the decision as a "tragedy and an outrage" and said that while there may not be job losses, staff did not want to be redeployed to hospitals further afield.

Monday's meeting was told all but five staff had now been "sorted" or redeployed, with two receiving promotions as a result of the changes.

Mrs Brown said the health service was all about efficiency and the best use of public money.

"The review looked at all factors and the conclusion was that we did not need as many beds," she said.

"That leaves us with the opportunity for further additional services to come into the space there is in the hospital."

Although plans for new day services were still in the early stages, she said the decision to create 25 more parking spaces was "a sign of our commitment to the hospital".

"Inpatients don't need spaces, but outpatients do," Mrs Brown said.

Parish council chairman Cllr Rosemary Woods said the authority had received countless letters of support in its battle to fight the loss of beds, including correspondence from Watchet Town Council, Bicknoller, Old Cleeve, Luxborough and Kilve parish councils.

Numerous letters had also been received from local people outlining individual cases where no bed had been available for either themselves or elderly relatives at Williton Hospital.

One case involved a Porlock woman who was told her brother-in-law would have to be treated in South Petherton as there were no beds in Williton.

An elderly widow was sent home alone following a knee replacement rather than recuperating in her local community hospital and a fellow pensioner was twice sent home immediately after hip replacement surgery and had ended up being rushed to Musgrove with clots on his lungs after being unable to move when he was not offered physiotherapy or rehabilitation via his local hospital.

Mrs Brown said she was unable to comment on individual cases but confirmed she was investigating another case where a patient in their 90s was sent home alone without her home being assessed beforehand or without any contact with Social Services.

Watchet town councillor Loretta Whetlor said she knew of three cases where people had been told all the beds were full at Williton Hospital and she questioned the logic of sending patients home so quickly after major surgery.

"We had a friend who had had a quadruple heart bypass and he was sent straight home where he had to go up four flights of stairs," she said.

"He had been unable to go to Williton Hospital because there were not enough beds.

"Care in the community is a misnomer. There isn't much care in the community."

West Somerset district councillor Martin Dewdney feared the reduction in beds could lead to the closure of the hospital "by stealth" and said he was still aware of people being sent to South Petherton because no beds were available in Williton.

Mrs Brown said she was confident there were enough beds available in Williton to meet demand, but conceded that "very occasionally" all the beds could be full.

"I think [patients being sent to South Petherton] happens very rarely, but I can't say never," she said.

Fellow district councillor Eddie May said services were already disappearing from Williton and being provided in other community hospitals, including Minehead and Wellington, while Williton businessman David Gliddon said he too knew of people who had been unable to get a bed in Williton.

"Even people living in Bridgwater and the north of Taunton would prefer to go to Williton Hospital.

"The last place they want to be sent is South Petherton, it is extremely difficult to get to," Mr Gliddon said.

Williton Parish Council vice-chairman Cllr Rebecca James said Somerset and West Somerset in particular was predicted to have a huge increase in its elderly population in the next three years.

The growing demand on medical services needed to be taken into account.

Mrs Hull said such growth predictions were the very reason health chiefs were continuing to invest in community hospitals.

"We have retained our community hospitals when elsewhere they are closing.

"We absolutely do not believe we can let that happen in Somerset because of the age of the population.

"We are confident we have the appropriate bed numbers in Williton but we will keep it under close review."