HEALTH chiefs have been warned that their "hasty" decision to temporarily close 37 beds across Waverley may come back to haunt them in the winter.

At a meeting last Thursday, the Guildford and Waverley Primary Care Trust (PCT) decided to temporarily axe 10 beds at Farnham Hospital as part of a cost-cutting exercise.

However a last minute deal has been struck to save 14 beds at Cranleigh Hospital.

All of the beds are "step downs" for residents who have been patients at an acute hospital but are not well enough to go home. Extra resources are now to be put in place to care for patients at home.

A further 27 "step down" beds are also to temporarily close but are to immediate reopen for another purpose.

Comprising all 16 the beds in the Elizabeth Ward of Haslemere Hospital and 11 beds in Farnham, these 27 are to be used as 'step up' beds for patients requiring care but not needing to be admitted to an acute hospital.

The hopes are that care in a 'step up' beds will prevent a future admission to an acute hospital such as Frimley Park or the Royal Surrey.

The bed closures, which will save an estimated £219,000 this financial year, are directly attributable to the major financial crisis the PCT is currently facing.

It has a predicted £6.2 million overspend in budget this financial year while in total the PCT is driving though measures to save £20 million over the next two financial years. Interim chief executive of the PCT Jane Dale warned board members at the meeting that if the bed closures were not ratified immediately, even more radical cuts to health services may have to be made in the future. "We are between a rock and a very hard place," she said.

"Bed closures are directly attributable to our financial position and the reality is that we must start to take action about our financial position now or we will be in a worse position in the future.

"These are extremely difficult decisions to make but the clock is ticking and we don't have any more time."

Ms Dale also acknowledged the concerns of fellow board members that the bed closures would compromise the standard of patient healthcare. "We are aware of the impact," she said.

"We will be undoubtedly be taking capacity out of the system with the proposal to reduce the number of beds."

However in a dramatic late twist board members also agreed to accept a financial package funded by the Cranleigh Village Hospital Trust that has removed the immediate threat of the 14 bed closures at Cranleigh Hospital.

The move means that all of the beds at the hospital are to remain as 'step down' beds - reducing the loss of this bed type from the original 51 which was initially proposed.

PCT chairman Chris Grimes urged the board to support the proposals to temporarily close the remaining 'step down' beds at Haslemere and Farnham hospitals and this was unanimously agreed.

Mr Grimes also received the full backing of the board to personally oversee the PCT's financial recovery plan so that financial targets are met.

The decision to press ahead with the remaining beds has been met with disappointment by the members of the public present at the meeting and by local MP Jeremy Hunt.

Mr Hunt, who had urged the PCT to postpone its decision at the meeting, has written to Surrey County Council's health and scrutiny committee to complain.

He said: "The PCT has rushed into the decision with virtually no consultation.

"I asked them to postpone the decision at least until November but they charged ahead and now I am gravely concerned about what will happen over the winter.

"We all know they are in a financial crisis, but they have a responsibility to ensure no one suffers through an over-hasty decision.

"The PCT must put patient care above financial considerations and while I understand the predicament this puts them in, we must all do what we can to ensure patients get the quality of care they deserve in an appropriate setting."