INPATIENT beds at Dene Barton Community Hospital are still unavailable as others elsewhere in the county prepare to reopen. 

The inpatient units at community hospitals in Chard, Shepton Mallet, and Dene Barton in Cotford St Luke, Taunton, were closed in October 2017 due to staff shortages. 

The beds were relocated to other community hospitals, but now Somerset Partnership says it is ready to reopen some. 

It has been announced that the beds at Shepton Mallet Community Hospital will reopen on Monday, July 9. 

Andy Heron, chief operating officer at Somerset Partnership, said: “We are pleased to have reached a position where we are now able to reopen the inpatient unit at Shepton Mallet Community Hospital.

“We have been able to successfully recruit a number of nurses and also safely transfer some staff back to Shepton without significantly affecting neighbouring community hospitals."

The inpatient unit at Chard Hospital will remain closed for the time being due to an ongoing shortage of staff, but Somerset Partnership says it will continue to regularly review this position.

Mr Heron added: “While the overall staffing position has improved, it is not yet stable enough to safely re-open more than one inpatient ward.

“Our latest review of the situation shows it is currently safer, and more sustainable, to begin a phased re-opening of inpatient units, starting with the ward at Shepton Mallet and then working towards re-opening Chard as the staffing position improves.

“We are very grateful for the patience and efforts of local people and organisations in and around Shepton Mallet, Chard and Dene Barton who have shared their views and ideas on staffing at the hospitals.”

The staffing position at Dene Barton means it is not practical or safe to re-open this ward for the immediately foreseeable future.

Somerset Partnership says it will work with the hospital staff and League of Friends at Dene Barton to consider options for better use of the hospital while the ward remains temporarily closed.

“It was the right decision to make in the interests of protecting patient safety and supporting our staff given the challenging vacancy levels," Mr Heron said.

“It also meant that not only were we able to keep all beds open during a very challenging winter, we were able to open even more at times of highest demand, helping Musgrove Park, Yeovil Hospital and the hospitals on our county borders deal with one of the busiest winters in modern times.”