A COMMUNITY hospital will be kept open, but with a reduced number of beds.

NHS South West Essex has announced it will not shut Mayflower Community Hospital, in Billericay. However, it will be removing eight beds and scaling back some day services.

The proposals were agreed during a four-hour-long board meeting of the debt-ridden PCT and will now go out for public consultation.

The changes are part of a shake-up of the PCT’s three community hospitals – Mayflower, in Blunts Wall Road; Brentwood Hospital, in Shenfield, which will lose 25 beds; and the Alistair Farquharson Centre in Grays, which will not be widely affected by the cuts.

The move will result in 112 beds across the three sites being cut to 78, thus saving the trust, which is battling a £35million deficit, a total of £1.36million a year.

Leaders from the PCT say the proposals were largely supported by local GPs and the same number of patients, about 1,200 a year, will still be treated.

Tonia Parsons, associate director for out of hospital commissioning, said: “We want to stress the PCT is committed to providing these services and to keeping all three hospitals open.

“We have, on average, 19 beds a week standing empty across the three sites.

“We now have more beds than we need as, due to medical advances, patients are getting home a lot quicker.”

Mayflower Hospital has 30 beds, but this will be reduced to 22 in August.

Some services provided by the hospital’s day unit, including intravenous therapies such as blood transfusions, will be transferred to Brentwood Hospital.

Mrs Parsons added: “We are talking about a very small number of patients who use these services, but most of them are elderly, so we will be helping them with transport to Brentwood.

“We are contacting everyone who will be affected.”

Billericay Town councillor Terry Gandy, who pledged to launch a fight if the hospital was axed, said: “I went to the meeting fearing the worst.

“I ended up thanking the board for not closing the hospital.

“That was my biggest fear and a that of lot of residents in Billericay.

“However, I want assurances that patients won’t be left in the lurch when it comes to getting to Brentwood.”