Fury and anger following news south Warwickshire hospital the Ellen Badger at Shipston will not be getting beds

FURY and outrage greeted the long feared news that the Ellen Badger will not be getting hospital beds.

Shipston residents said they felt “lied to for seven years” as they gathered yet again on Saturday to protest last Thursday’s announcement from the Coventry and Warwickshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) that confirmed the town would not see the return of beds.

Prior to its demolition for redevelopment, the Ellen Badger Hospital had 16 community beds – whittled down from around 35 in 2000 – which people of the town believed would be returned once the rebuild of the site was complete.

After initially revealing designs for a new hospital and medical complex in 2020, South Warwickshire University Foundation Trust (SWFT) has spent the last five years backtracking on plans to include beds. And a medical centre also looks unlikely.

However, to comply with statutory duties the ICB had to hold a public consultation to officially decide where south Warwickshire’s 35 community rehabilitation beds would be allocated. That consultation was held from 6th January to 14th February. Respondents were asked to decide whether to pick Option A, to include beds at Shipston, Stratford and Leamington or Option B to only have beds at Stratford and Leamington – the ICB’s preferred option.

Data now published shows of the 1,242 responses to the consultation, 82 per cent rated Option A as the best solution. This has led residents to accuse NHS bosses of ignoring their wishes and that the whole process was “a forgone conclusion”.

Chair of campaign group Beds for the Badger, Alasdair Elliott, said: “The decision was inevitable. It was just unfortunate that 80 per cent of responses chose the ‘wrong option’. The outcome would have been the same if 110 per cent had supported the option. This was not an exercise to protect the future of the health service, this was purely a job protection exercise.

“We hear, weekly, that recruitment and retention of frontline staff is disastrous. The boys and girls in the trenches feel betrayed and those taking cover in cosy offices are working against them. And of course they are. It’s me, me, me in the back
office. Unelected, unfettered, untroubled by scruples.”

Venting her fury, Stratford MP Manuela Perteghella said: “I am deeply angered by the ICB’s decision not to include beds in the Ellen Badger Hospital. This is a short-sighted move that fails to recognise the needs of our growing community, both now and in the future. Our area deserves proper, accessible healthcare provision that supports patients close to home, particularly for our ageing population and those with complex care needs in rural areas.

“Removing the possibility of beds from Ellen Badger is a disservice to current residents and a failure to plan for the pressures our health system will face in the years ahead.”

Strong words also came from retired NHS boss Prof Bryan Stoten, who was previously the chair of the League of Friends of Shipston Hospital. The league donated a package of land to SWFT in 2018 and has also raised hundreds of thousands of
pounds for the new hospital.

Prof Stoten told the Herald: “For seven years we have been lied to, misled and our trust (and money) taken for granted. Our public services have been ill-managed and run down.

“It is a betrayal of the welfare state that was established after the war. As proof of NHS managerial incompetence we are now in the midst of the 23rd reorganisation of the NHS since 1974.

“The decision taken by the ICB actually disintegrates the care once provided in Shipston by GPs: a hospital with X-ray and minor surgery and community nursing. Who are these people who, so confident in their knowledge and experience
of failure, override 85 per cent of those who use and pay for their NHS despite the obstacles put in their way?”

In its press release announcing the news following a board meeting last Wednesday (19th March), the ICB said locating the beds at two sites will see a continuation of the current arrangements.

It also attempted to appease Shipston residents, who were concerned health services in rural areas were being overlooked in favour of more urban areas, by saying the ICB recognised “there is need for a wider consideration of health services for
our rural communities”.

It added: “The board also agreed to adopt a whole system approach to engagement with our communities, prioritising rural communities initially, aligned with the Neighbourhood Health Guidelines 2025-26, using Shipston and surrounding
areas as a blueprint for future ICS engagement”.

In English, that means talking to the Shipston community about their health service needs and trying to plug the gaps.

Danielle Oum, chair of NHS Coventry and Warwickshire ICB, said: “The decision to permanently locate community rehabilitation beds in south Warwickshire across two sites will mean care is close to the majority of patients, whilst also ensuring
value for money in our services.

“Since the beds were temporarily relocated in January 2022, we have closely monitored the impact on patients and we know this model works, so we are confident this decision is the right one for south Warwickshire.

“I’d like to thank everyone who participated in the consultation process and assure them we have heard their concerns.

“We recognise there was significant public support for the three-site model, especially in Shipston. However, as a board we believe that the two-site option provides high-quality care while being more affordable, focuses on the places with the most patients needing rehabilitation, and supports how our staff currently work across south Warwickshire.

“Although we will no longer be delivering community bedded rehabilitation from the Ellen Badger site, it is important that we acknowledge the issues identified through the consultation process in how we support rural communities’ access to health and care services.

“To address this, the ICB board has committed to ongoing engagement with rural communities to identify gaps in provision and develop services that meet the needs of people living in these areas.”