HEALTH chiefs are pledging that no decisions have been made as speculation swells about the future of Tenbury Hospital.

The Worcestershire Care and Health and Care NHS Trust also say that there are no plans to hold a consultation about the future of the hospital.

But the trust says that it is a long-term objective to try to get as many people as possible treated and supported in their own homes where this is a practical option.

"At this stage, our area's draft Sustainability and Transformation Plan sets out some fairly high-level thoughts for how health and care services could look over the next four to five years, so we can better meet the health needs of our communities,” said a spokesman for the trust.

"A key part of the thinking is improving the care we provide in people’s own homes and if we get this right it could, over time, lead to fewer people needing to be admitted to a community hospital bed.

"If fewer people need a bed because they are getting more effective nursing or therapy care at home, then you might consider changes to bed capacity, but again this would be predicated on strengthening the support provided at home and demand going down.

"Clearly current occupancy figures won’t reflect this long-term approach."

But Tenbury MP Harriett Baldwin believes that there doubts about the future of the hospital in Burford.

She offered her continued support after the Worcestershire Health and Care Trust, which runs the county’s community hospitals, published figures for the last two years showing that bed occupancy was 89.2 per cent in 2015 rising to 90.7 per cent in 2016.

“Our community hospitals are a precious local resource and we all welcome the chance to be cared for closer to our homes where possible,“ said Harriett Baldwin.

“The latest figures speak for themselves, showing that Tenbury’s hospital is running at near capacity, with the additional beds that were recently added. This simply is not the time to be discussing mothballing beds.

“In my view, the current version of the plan to reduce beds is not backed up by the evidence and with such high pressure on beds at the Worcestershire Royal, we clearly need to use our community hospitals more, not less.

“I hope that the people leading the review into this matter will look again and offer reassurance to local people about the future capacity at community hospitals.“

She says that options being considered include a reduction in the number of beds in community hospitals, including Tenbury.

Ken Pollock, who represents Tenbury on Worcestershire County Council, has also said that he has concerns about the long term future of the hospital.

“Given the confusion and competing interests in the area, it is hard to be optimistic about the whole subject,” said Ken Pollock.

His comments came after a number of occasions when the Minor Injuries Unit was closed in Tenbury Hospital so that nurses could be deployed to Worcester to deal with high demand in the Accident and Emergency Unit.

At present, Tenbury Hospital in Burford has a small number of inpatient beds used for people who do not require acute care but who are not well enough to be at home.

The hospital also has a Minor Injuries Unit that is open 12 hours and day but that was downgraded from 24 hours a day opening last year.