SOMERSET NHS Trust have confirmed there are no plans to reopen Wellington Community Hospital inpatient beds following their “temporary” closure in 2020.

A spokesperson for the Trust said the ongoing closure had never been formally announced but that the ten bed spaces, which were “temporarily closed” in April 2020 to “consolidate services” amid the Covid-19 pandemic, are now being used for outpatient services and diagnostics.

Wellington mayor, Cllr Janet Lloyd said she was “surprised and disappointed” to hear the news.

She said: “The main Covid outbreak, luckily, happened five years ago but now we have been told that the ten inpatient beds will not be used again.

“Five years is a long time and there does not seem to have been any consultation on the decision. These beds were a Godsend to local people who did not have to use time and money to visit their relations/friends in Musgrove Park Hospital.

“I also know from personal experience that these beds were used as a transition from Musgrove to patients returning to their homes when fully recovered as my own mother did for one week in the safe and secure environment with medical attention still available.”

A spokesperson for Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Wellington Community Hospital, said: “[Since the temporary closure of the beds in 2020], we have invested in an extended range of outpatient and diagnostic services at the hospital, including chemotherapy, outpatients, maternity, rheumatology, audiology, MSK physiotherapy, and more.

“This additional care closer to home has proven popular with patients from the local area, as well as our colleagues, and it’s helping to avoid hundreds to trips for care at Musgrove Park Hospital every week.”

Wellington Town Council will hold an urgent debate on the beds’ continued closure on August 4.