CONCERNS have been raised over the future of general beds at the Vale Hospital in Dursley.

Campaigners fear that the beds - which are for those who need to recuperate from illness or surgery or for end of life care - may be permanently reassigned to the Vale's stroke unit.

Originally there were 16 general beds at the hospital but in 2019, it was decided to take 10 of them to create a stroke unit, leaving six general beds.

And then, during the Covid crisis, all the general beds were reassigned to the stroke unit.

The fear now is that the stroke unit will be expanded and the beds will remain part of it.

"The result of the loss of the beds has been that elderly local people are now sent to Tewkesbury, Tetbury, Cirencester and the Forest, where they hardly have any visitors because of lack of public transport," said Berkeley town councillor Liz Ashton.

Cllr Ashton said that when Berkeley Hospital closed in 2011, the community were told there would always be beds at the Vale for local people from the Berkeley area who needed to recuperate from illness or surgery or for end of life care.

She said she is now hoping that the commitment will be honoured.

A meeting is set to take place on March 8, and campaigners want to highlight the issue, to give people a chance to show their support.

The councillor recounted the experiences of an 84-year-old woman from Sharpness whose husband recently spent time in Cirencester Hospital.

"He’s just had six weeks in Cirencester Hospital and as his wife has a bad leg, she can’t drive. While her husband was in Cirencester, she visited twice a week by taxi at £80 a time," she said.

"She told me that if her husband had been in the Vale, she could have easily caught the bus to Dursley to see him. As it was, taxis and the occasional lift from a relation was the only way to get to visit."

Val Watts, secretary of the Vale Hospital League of Friends, said: "We feel the local beds are essential because the other hospitals are quite a distance, which is fine for people who've got cars and can zoom around the county, but a lot of older folk haven't got transport.

"Now a decision's going to be made as to whether the beds return to general use or not, because they want to try and expand the rehab unit.

"Obviously we'll support the hospital whatever the decision is, whether it's all stroke victims or not. Everybody's ill, they all deserve the beds. But the stroke unit has 14 and we would just like six for local people."

It is understood that the matter will be discussed at a meeting of the county council's health and care overview and scrutiny committee on March 8.

Ahead of the meeting, those who support keeping the general beds are asked to write to Angela Potter, the director of strategy and partnerships at Gloucestershire Health and Care or email angela.potter@ghc.nhs.uk

"It's not a done deal we understand, and we felt we had to do something to try and make our point heard," said Mrs Watts.

Commenting on the matter, Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust and NHS Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group released a joint statement.

It said: “A full review of the stroke pathway (care journey) across the county is taking place.

"This will involve looking at what support is required for stroke patients across Gloucestershire and making recommendations for future bed use. "Full consideration will be given to local healthcare facilities and the needs and views of residents.

"No options have been agreed and no permanent changes will be made without full engagement with people and communities.”