PLANS to withdraw NHS services from Weymouth's Westhaven Hospital have been branded a "travesty".

The criticism came as the Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group's governing body backed proposals for a shake-up of community hospitals that will see the number of sites with beds reduced from 13 to seven.

Under the proposals, which will now be subject to a national assurance process before going out to public consultation in the autumn, services will be withdrawn from Westhaven, St Leonard's and Alderney Hospital in Poole - although no decision has yet been made on mental health services at the Poole site.

Community hubs with beds will be located at Weymouth Community Hospital, Bridport, Wimborne, Blandford, Sherborne, Swanage and the major planned hospital proposed for Poole or Bournemouth.

Community hubs without beds will be at Shaftesbury, Christchurch, Portland and Wareham with some community services will be provided at Dorset County Hospital.

At the governing body meeting the CCG's assistant clinical chair Dr Karen Kirkham said the proposals had been drawn up following extensive public and stakeholder engagement.

She said that access to sites, travel times, affordability and workforce requirements had all been considered in coming up with the proposed model.

Dr Kirkham stressed that there would actually be an increase in 69 beds across the county and that the proposals were all about providing a wider range of integrated care in the community rather than in major acute hospitals.

She said: "There was very strong support for care closer to home."

Director of engagement and development Charles Summers said that, while there was an acknowledgement that some staff might be asked to work differently under the new proposals, there would be new roles created and some "exciting opportunities".

Addressing the issues facing Weymouth and Portland, Dr Kirkham said the area was currently "well endowed" with three community hospitals but staff had spoken of the difficulties of working across different sites.

She said Weymouth Community Hospital had been assessed as the most suitable location for the community hub with beds while Portland Community Hospital will still provide some services, although there will be no beds on the site.

One former nurse at Westhaven spoke out at the meeting over the plans to withdraw services from Westhaven, stating that it had been purpose built with the care of the elderly in mind.

Weymouth resident Andy Hutchings added: "To close Westhaven would be a travesty.

"The care my father had there was outstanding, please think again about Westhaven Hospital.

"I'm very passionate about the future of care for the elderly in Weymouth and Portland and I just don't think you have got it right."

Mr Hutchings challenged the CCG to hold a public meeting in Weymouth and Portland as part of consultation process to explain the reasoning behind the proposals to local people.