Warwickshire County Council: NHS questioned on whether Shipston hospital bed call is already a done deal

The furore over the future of services at the redeveloped Ellen Badger Hospital, Shipston, has rumbled on for years with the latest plans including reconsideration of whether it should include rehabilitation beds.

The old facility closed its doors in January 2022 in order to demolish and rebuild parts that were deemed beyond repair.

Community beds for patients needing onward recovery, rehabilitation or who are getting ready for discharge were part of the initial proposals but the 35 beds commissioned for through the South Warwickshire Community Hospital Review are currently catered for in Warwick and Stratford.

It was planned to keep it that way but further review has thrown up an extra option – splitting the 35 across the three locations, moving up to 12 of them back to Shipston but at the expense of those currently at the Nicol Unit, Stratford Hospital and the Campion Ward, Leamington Spa Hospital, Warwick.

Warwickshire’s adult social care and health overview and scrutiny committee this week heard the latest from the Coventry & Warwickshire Integrated Care Board (ICB), the panel that commissions NHS services in the area, and debated the matter for more than an hour.

Programme lead Amy Danahay said that five years of postcode data supported that the current placement of beds is meeting need in the right areas with the 35 allocated proving “sufficient” alongside the NHS community recovery service, where people are supported to recover at home, although there are plans to “look further at need” to decide whether some beds should be included in Shipston.

She concluded: “We’ve got the data, we’ve done the research so we are genuinely seeing those two options as viable.”

Councillor Ian Shenton (Con, Arden): “It boils down to two options, whether you want beds at the Ellen Badger or you don’t.

“I wonder if the public, parish council and county council all say we want beds there, will that be enough to swing it? What is the trigger point?

“You must have data on whether it is viable to have beds in Shipston and you put this in front of everyone but the choice is binary – what is it that would make it the right place?”

NHS chief integration officer Laura Nelson replied: “I don’t think it is about what we want, it is about how our patients access services. It goes back to that data provision.

“It is not just Ellen Badger but across all healthcare, we can want things right next to our door but actually, can we fund that? Can we provide the workforce to do that and is that how the population wants to access those services?

“We will factor in all the risks and benefits of those options and take all the feedback on board but there has not been a decision made at ICB level because we have to consider all those factors.

“What we have to look at is the best way to deliver those services, what is the most cost effective and what delivers the best patient outcomes.”

Cllr Shenton’s doubts prevailed.

“We are less than six months from a decision,” he continued.

“In my head, you’ve already got this data, you know the likely costs, you know logistically and geographically whether it is viable. Are you just paying lip service by putting a proposal in front of the public? Because that decision is going to be driven by cost pressures, logistics, not necessarily by patients.

“I can’t see what would persuade you. I’m a little bit concerned that this is paying lip service to the public.”

Rose Uwins, an NHS communications officer, stepped in at that point.

She said: “It is really important we lay out all of the pros and cons, and they will be financial – there will potentially be an impact in other areas if we pay to go across three (sites), so we have to explain to people the input we are asking (for).

“What we want to understand from the public is what the impact would be. If you live in Shipston, what would the impact be if the board decided (to have no beds there). Likewise, what would the impact be if you live in Leamington or Stratford if we split some of those beds and take them out of where they are currently to put them back into Shipston?”

The other major bone of contention was the public consultation period.

The NHS must consult on major service changes for at least two weeks but can allow for up to 12.

In this case, a six-week period was put forward based on the volume of past consultations, the time already taken to draw this matter to a conclusion and the potential further delays that a 12-week period could cause – the NHS targets having the matter resolved by the end of March 2025 but 12 weeks of consultation would push the final decision beyond that and into the 2025 pre-election period at Warwickshire County Council.

It was argued that new options were on the table, meaning that the full 12 weeks should be allowed and councillors were split when voting on the matter – four votes for each option with the rest abstaining.

Committee chair Councillor Jo Barker (Con, Shipston) had the casting vote and backed the six-week option.

She had previously said: “Personally, I endorse the six-week period, mostly because I have seen so much consultation.

“I have been in the middle of it for so long and know that anyone who has anything to say has said it at least once. I am confident it will probably be slightly less painful if it is six weeks but that it will also address it.

“The last consultation was on more than this, this is on two solutions.”