VOLUNTEERS have been left upset and angry after the NHS rejected their bid to transform part of Berkeley Hospital into a community hub in favour of selling the land for profit. Former mayor of Berkeley and member of the hospital working committee Valerie Watts said she thought the decision was ‘appalling’ and that they had been ‘led on’ by NHS Gloucestershire, who had ‘no intention’ of giving them the building.

"Yes they have the legal right to sell off the hospital, but they do not have the moral right," said Mrs Watts.

"That land was given to the people of the town by the Berkeley family. I feel they have let us down very badly and I am very upset and disappointed."

The Berkeley Hospital League of Friends spent months creating a business case to bid for the listed part of the hospital, which NHS Gloucestershire said they could have if it was financially viable and provided valuable services to the community.

The League of Friends came up with a community hub model in which the many rooms would be used for a range of activities such as a dementia café, training rooms, internet café, youth centre, health clinics and much more.

They put forward a plan which relied on funding from a hospice paying rent on the modern part of the building.

However the NHS replied last week to announce it would not be offering any of the building to the group and instead would be putting the whole site on the market, raising fears it will be sold to a housing developer.

Mrs Watts said: "It will be a wicked waste of a resource if it goes to housing. The site would have been ideal for the uses we put forward. All they see are pound signs, and I feel we have been led on to be kept quiet until they decided to sell it."

Eugene Camper, treasurer of the League of Friends, said he was very disappointed with the decision.

"Months of research and phone calls and planning went into the business plan," he said.

"Why they are doing this I don’t know. I can see that site being left empty for years not being used and yet we could have done a lot with it."

Berkeley Hospital will close at the end of the year when the new replacement hospital opens in Dursley.

Debra Elliott, director of commissioning development at NHS Gloucestershire, said: "In line with national guidance, NHS Gloucestershire is committed to achieving value for money in the sale of any NHS property.

"NHS Gloucestershire has been in discussion with the League of Friends for Berkeley Hospital and community members in relation to using the Berkeley Hospital site for community use.

"Unfortunately, as NHS Gloucestershire must achieve value for money from taxpayers' money, we are not able to hand the site over or give to a group at a reduced rate.

"The site will therefore be sold through a competitive purchase process, which community members are able to enter into."