TOWN councillors in Wellington fear that Wellington Community Hospital could one day be closed for good – although it has been announced that the hospital will re-open to inpatients in January.

Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust temporarily closed the beds in August while essential repair works were carried out.

Plans to re-open the beds had to be paused in October as the trust needed to open five additional stroke beds for patients needing specialist rehabilitation.

To support the arrangement for staffing these additional beds, existing nursing staff were used.

Following a review of the staffing situation and some local success in recruitment, the trust announced earlier this month it will be able to re-open the beds in Wellington in January.

Andy Heron, chief operating officer for community services, mental health and learning disabilities at Somerset Partnership, said: “We are pleased that following our review, we are in a position where we are now able to re-open the inpatient unit at Wellington Community Hospital in January.

“We will be safely transferring the nursing staff back to Wellington and are also in a good position to be able to continue to support the additional stroke beds we have opened in Williton Community Hospital and South Petherton Community Hospital.

“I’d like to thank our staff, patients and the community for their continued support.

“The staffing situation is still fragile as we head into a very busy winter so we will need to keep these staffing levels under review.

“We are very grateful to our patients and local communities in Wellington who have shared their views and ideas on staffing at community hospitals and we want to speak again with communities and patient representatives to get their views on criteria we would use if we had to consider any temporary closures in future.”

Members of Wellington Town Council met a few days before the announcement and spoke of their concerns about the hospital’s long-term future.

Cllr Andrew Govier said: “There is a huge risk to the community hospital. It would do us no harm in writing to the Somerset NHS Partnership to say there is a real need for the hospital here in Wellington.”

Cllr Wayne Battishill added: “Community hospitals are so important and are so much-needed. They are of paramount importance.”

Cllr Bob Bowrah said: “We need to tell them that we want Wellington Hospital to stay open.”