Nurse shortage leads Wareham Hospital to close all beds

All 16 beds at a community hospital in Dorset are to close at the end of the month because of a lack of nurses.

Beds and outpatient services at Wareham Hospital were originally expected to close after the launch of a planned health and social care hub, but no date has been set for its construction.

The Friends of Wareham Hospital said staff were surprised and "very sad".

Dorset Healthcare NHS Trust said it did not anticipate redundancies as there were "many other vacancies".

It said existing patients in the 16-bed Saxon Ward would not have to move and outpatient services would continue to operate there until the new hub was open.

A trust spokesman said: "For some time we have been working hard to staff the Saxon Ward at Wareham Hospital.

"Everything has been done to try and secure the qualified nurses needed to run the ward safely but, unfortunately, that has not been possible and so sadly the beds there will close later this month.

"The staff of Saxon Ward have provided a fabulous service to the people of Wareham for many years and they are justifiably very proud of what they have been able to achieve for the people of Wareham."

Maggy Hardy, who chairs the Friends of Wareham Hospital, said: "Staff are very, very sad. They were under the impression the beds would not close until a new community hub was in place."

The trust said it hoped to have a timetable for the creation of a new hub by January.

The planned closure of Wareham Hospital forms part of a wider shake-up of hospital services across the county, including the closure of A&E, maternity and paediatric services at Poole.

Beds at Portland Hospital have already been closed.

The changes aim to tackle a funding shortfall of £158m by 2021.