A Dorset MP asked questions at the top as he joined the fight against plans to close Portland Community Hospital as part of a health shake-up.

South Dorset MP Richard Drax asked Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt in Parliament if he would “review the review” in order to save the community hospital which would see closure as health chiefs consider opening a community hub without beds at a different site.

It comes as Jeremy Hunt announced the government would give the NHS an extra £20bn boost. Mr Drax said that some of the funding should be used to save the hospital.

Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) plans to set up community hubs in which GPs, physiotherapists and other healthcare staff work in one place with the aim is to deliver more timely and effective support to rural communities.

Dorset CCG’s proposals will see the provision of community hubs with beds at Sherborne, Blandford, Shaftesbury, Bridport, Weymouth, Swanage, Wimborne and Bournemouth, and community hubs without beds on Portland and at Wareham.

Mr Drax, said: “Like all colleagues in the House, I am a great supporter of community hospitals.

“Under the latest Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group review, Portland Community Hospital is to be replaced with a medical hub on the island.

“Will the extra money allow the CCG to review the review, and perhaps save hospitals such as Portland Community Hospital?”

The Health Secretary, said: “Obviously, that would be for the CCG to look at; it will focus on anything that allows it to focus on prevention and not cure.

“I do not know the specifics of that case, but in general there is a strong and important role for community hospitals, although not always doing exactly the same things they have done in the past.

“Often, they can become local NHS hubs, offering a wide range of services. That tends to be the best way to preserve their future.”

Alongside this, the CCG also agreed Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester should find ways to share its paediatric and maternity departments with Yeovil District Hospital.

Health chiefs at the group have also agreed to relocate mental health and acute care which include the closure and relocation of beds at the Linden Unit in Weymouth and the creation of extra inpatient beds at St Ann’s Hospital in Poole and Forston Clinic near Dorchester.

Patients’ lives would be ‘at risk’

Defend NHS Dorset have also backed Mr Drax’s calls.

Campaigner Giovanna Lewis, said: “We’ve been working hard to raise this issue not only with him, but also the CCG and Dorset County Council Health Scrutiny Committee.

“Whilst we’ve been able to put Portland high on the agenda, we mustn’t forget that four other community hospitals in Dorset are set to lose beds or close altogether.

“As an area of high deprivation, Portland very much needs all the services it can hold on to.”

The group added that the wider county plans will leave tens of thousands of Dorset residents and over a million visitors without access to A&E and maternity services within the ‘golden hour’, and will lead to the lives of many patients being put unnecessarily at risk.

A Dorset CCG spokesman, said: “Doing nothing is not an option if we are to ensure high-quality and sustainable services are available both now and for future generations. The decisions made took into account feedback from clinicians, local organisations and members of the public.”