A group of campaigners have launched a legal bid to try and prevent the temporary closure of a community hospital in Somerset.
Shepton Mallet Community Hospital Supporters Group have submitted a pre-action protocol letter to the Somerset Partnership Trust in an effort to reverse the temporary closure of the town’s community hospital.
A pre-action protocol letter is sent from one party to another in a dispute to narrow any issues or to see if litigation can be avoided.
Ten in-patient beds were closed temporarily in October due to staffing issues with the trust saying that they hoped to reopen them in March 2018.
Confirmation of the decision to temporarily close the hospital came after an email to staff was leaked on social media, saying that the plans would “proceed”.
This was despite a previous statement which said that it was “considering its next steps”.
The partnership later insisted that “nothing has changed” and that it remains focused on reopening the hospital towards the end of March 2018.
In a statement, a spokesman for the supporters group said that the letter aimed to challenge the alleged “unlawfulness” of the trusts decision and to “achieve the re-opening of the in-patient beds as quickly as possible.”
Paul Turner said: “We have asked the Trust to rescind its decision before a Court quashes it, and if it wants to take any such decision in the future or any other decision on a change in service at SMCH, the Trust must undertake a prior proper public consultation.
“This is nothing new and the point has been made before in meetings with SOMPAR representatives.”
He added: “We are of course also prepared to take part in alternative dispute resolution to avoid going to court.
“We have asked to be kept up to date concerning developments in this dispute.”
A spokesman from Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust said: “We have received the letter and we are considering our response.
“In the meantime, I want to reassure the Shepton Mallet community that we remain committed to re-opening the community hospital inpatient ward as soon as we can, although we do not expect this to be before the end of March 2018.”
The issue of the temporary closure was raised at a debate in Westminster Hall last month by the MP for Wells, James Heappey.
Mr Heappey said: “The overall nurse rota statistics for both day and night shifts were 100 per cent in Shepton.
“Under some scrutiny at an excellent public meeting, SOMPAR was forced to accept what it was seeking to do was break up a team that was working well and fully staffed in a hospital which was fully operational, in order to fix rotas elsewhere.
“It would appear to make SOMPAR’s decision somewhat nonsensical. From this moment, NHS Property Services must urgently fix the building Shepton Mallet Community Hospital] and any plans for development can go on concurrently.”
Article originally appeared on Somerset Live
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