Campaigners hope legal appeal will stop Dorset's healthcare shake-up

Debby Monkhouse, a leading campaigner from Defend Dorset NHS, is travelling to London for the court hearing, along with a group of others from Dorset. A demonstration outside the Royal Courts of Justice, where the case is being heard, is planned from 9.30 am on the first day of the review.

The judicial review will decide on the legality of Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group's clinical services review (CSR), which, if it materialises, will see Poole Hospital lose its accident and emergency and maternity departments, while community hospitals in Wareham and on Portland will lose their beds. Weymouth's Linden Unit, a mental health hospital, will also lose its beds, which will be moved to St Ann's clinic in Poole.

Portland Community Hospital

The review has met with fierce opposition from campaigners, who fear the impact of the loss of community beds, and also argue that Purbeck residents will be put at risk by the closure of Poole's A and E department.

But Ms Monkhouse said she was feeling optimistic that the judicial review would overturn the CSR. - the result of which may not be decided for some weeks after it is heard. "We have right on our side," she said. "Repeated research has shown that people's lives are being put at risk by moving A&E further away."

She noted that the country already had a low proportion of beds - and that closing more community and acute beds would not help.

"None of it makes any sense," she argued.

Fellow activist Giovanna Lewis, who has worked to save the beds at Portland Community Hospital and will also be travelling to the London courts for the judicial review, said she was feeling equally optimistic about the outcome.

"If we achieve keeping Poole A and E , Poole ,aternity and Dorset’s NHS beds, we will be delighted," Ms Lewis said. "Whatever the outcome of the [judicial review], we will continue to fight to protect the NHS, continue to scrutinise plans, continue to ask questions and consider using legal recourse as needed."

Tim Goodson, chief operating officer at Dorset CCG, was unwilling to outline what the group would do in the event of a decision against the plans.

“The judicial review hearing will take place," Mr Goodson said. "We expect the outcome to be made public soon after the conclusion of the two-day hearing. We do not wish to speculate about the outcome before then.”