Shipston hospital campaigners inspired to fight on after hearing how Shropshire town Bishop’s Castle got its NHS foundation trust to backtrack on hospital closure
CAMPAIGNERS fighting for inpatient beds to be part of the new hospital in Shipston say they have found fresh inspiration.
It comes after town councillors and members of the League of Friends of Shipston Hospitals met with a Shropshire mayor who had been instrumental in getting his NHS foundation trust to backtrack on the closure of a 16-bedded community hospital.
Josh Dickin, mayor of market town Bishop’s Castle, visited Shipston Town Council offices on Saturday (27th April) and told of his townspeople’s recent victory in opening the community hospital more than two years after NHS bosses had closed it.
Deputy mayor John Dinnie told the Herald: “Josh explained to the group how the residents of Bishop’s Castle, like us, were starting to believe that nothing could be done about the removal of inpatient beds from their local hospital. They, like us, held a public meeting. They, like us, were promised public consultation.
“Their community then took the decisive step to take control of that public consultation and make sure it was fair. The community formed a powerful local committee, endorsed by but independent of the town council. This became the ‘Save Our Beds’ campaign – including an 18-mile bed push and protest.”
Similarly people of Shipston orchestrated the ‘Beds 4 the Badger’ campaign – which saw hundreds march in protest in August 2023.
However what really proved crucial in the Bishop’s Castle campaign was the threat of legal action after Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust went against legislation by making a decision to shut the hospital “behind closed doors” and without a public consultation.
Cllr Dinnie continued: “Eventually the Shropshire trust came to recognise that the community were not going to settle for second best, and so worked constructively with them. This resulted in the agreement to re-open inpatient beds.”
He continued: “There is sufficient strength of local feeling in Shipston and the surrounding area to achieve what Bishop’s Castle did.
“There is clear injustice in SWFT’s proposal. Both Stratford District Council and Warwickshire County Council have insisted on full public consultation. And, we have a promise by the Coventry and Warwickshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) to hold an independent public consultation. However, that consultation will not be fair unless our community makes it so.”
Meanwhile, SWFT gave an update on what is happening with the Ellen Badger site.
A spokesperson said: “The development of the new hospital is progressing well, with an impressive building structure now in place. We are expecting the building to be open in spring 2025.
“SWFT continue to work with the ICB and Shipston Medical Centre with the ambition of bringing the medical centre on site.
“To ensure the integration could be accommodated there has been some delays to the construction, therefore a plan and timeline for opening the site is currently being developed. When open the new site is going to provide enhanced clinical spaces for hospital and community services, bringing more specialties and clinics closer to the local communities in and around Shipston.
“Returning services include: heart failure nurses, urology, maternity, health visiting, obstetrics and gynaecology, audiology, ENT, physiotherapy, ophthalmology, specialist Parkinson’s disease nurse.
“The development will also include the infrastructure to bring on-site mobile diagnostics. The site will also be home to a health and wellbeing hub, and will be a space to enhance the health offering to all members of the community.”
