COMMUNITY beds at a Dorset hospital are to be axed after a long fight, health chiefs have announced.

A total 16 beds at Portland Community Hospital are to close on August 7 as part of a planned shake-up of NHS services across the county, which is currently facing a judicial review.

Dorset HealthCare University NHS Trust, which runs the hospital admitted that there had been difficulties for a "very long time" in securing enough staff to safely operate the ward.

However, instead, they said that 16 out of the 34 beds at Westhaven Community Hospital which are currently closed would reopen.

Ron Shields, chief executive of the trust told the Dorset Echo: "There is a fabulous ward team at the hospital on Portland and we are very proud of the services that they have provided for many years for the people of Portland.

"The way to ensure that Portland people get the best care in hospital is for the beds to be transferred to Westhaven Hospital.

"It is an excellent hospital, supported by a Consultant Specialist in Elderly Medicine as well as full range of professionals in the much acclaimed integrated Hub."

"To be absolutely clear it is not being proposed that the hospital will close, we will be working with GPs and the local community to see how all of these services might be best organised for the people of Portland.

"Some of these may be on the Portland Hospital site, or they may be elsewhere on the Island. Nothing will happen to the Hospital before those discussions have taken place."

However, Save Portland Beds and Defend Dorset NHS who have been campaigning against the closure said that Dorset HealthCare told them in May the 16 beds would not close for a few years.

Campaigner Giovanna Lewis said: “This is an enormous blow for residents of Portland – and for ourselves as campaigners.

"We’ve been working hard to raise this issue with Richard Drax, the CCG and Dorset County Council Health Scrutiny Committee.

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

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.

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.

The announcement of the closure comes after South Dorset MP Richard Drax asked Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt to "review the review" in order to save the hospital.

Mr Drax said that he was a great supporter of community hospitals and has had reassurances from the chief executive about the move of the beds from Portland.

The South Dorset MP has since announced that he will organise a public meeting on the matter which will be held on Thursday, July 5 at Weymouth Pavillion from 6.30pm.