ELEVENTH hour plans to save the only ward at the Chase Community Hospital from complete closure have been unveiled which could mean that the hospital could keep its beds.
But the new plans could be scuppered if government funding is not secured or if legal agreements prevent them going ahead.
At the last public meeting during the consultation period over plans to close the only ward at the Chase Hospital, health chiefs revealed details of their new plans which they hope will prevent the closure of MacIlwain ward beds.
As previously reported by The Herald, the North and Mid Hampshire Health Authority (NMHHA) has submitted a £1.5 million funding bid to the government to tackle the problem of delayed transfers of care - more commonly known as bed-blocking.
D-Day is January 31 when health chiefs will know whether the funding application has been granted.
If successful, the health authority and Hampshire County CouncilÕs social services will be able jointly to fund and provide an additional 53 intermediate care places in north and mid Hampshire - 12 of which would be at the Chase.
If the bid is successful then new plans by the North Hampshire Primary Care Trust (NHPCT), which runs the health services at the Chase, for a 24-bed ward at the Conde Way site will go out for consultation.
The plans would mean that the ward would be transformed and house 12 NHS intermediate care beds, and 12 nursing home beds will be cheaply available to social services for longer-term patients.
Revealing the detailed plans in public for the first time chief executive of the NHPCT Gill Duncan told last ThursdayÕs meeting that she and other staff at both the NMHHA and NHPCT had been Òworking hard behind the scenesÓ to come up with an alternative proposal for the Chase.
Under the plans currently out for formal consultation, 16 of the 24 beds at the hospital will close to save money and be replaced by a community intensive support service which will provide care in patientsÕ homes.
A formal decision is due to be made on February 5, although the current plans could be deferred if the health authority receives good news on Thursday.
A decision has already been taken to move the eight remaining EMI (elderly mentally infirm) beds to Basingstoke.
Mrs Duncan urged residents who had packed into St MarkÕs Shared Church for the emotionally charged meeting to think about just what health chiefs were hoping to offer submit for formal consultation if the money was secured.
ÒThis is what we have been doing behind the scenes. If we find out that we do have the capital, this is what we want to do. We have been listening to you and have been working hard to try to come up with an alternative.Ó
The chief executive said that if the new plans were approved, it would mean that no beds would be lost at the Chase and that the problem of bed-blocking would be addressed.
She explained that a recent government cash boost had done little to make the problem of bed-blocking any better.
ÒIt is a real issue. When this consultation process started we believed that the new money was going to make a difference. It has not made a difference in the north of Hampshire, in fact the problem has got worse.
ÒThere is no quick fix to it and this has been really difficult for the staff - especially at the Chase.
ÒWe need both - more nursing homes and hospital beds. The NHS is always going to be used as a political football. What we have put forward is an alternative which hopefully will help on both counts.Ó
Health bosses could be faced with another problem if they secure the necessary funding.
At the public meeting, campaigner Hazel OÕSullivan brought to the attention of health bosses a clause from the legal agreement which was signed when the NHS bought the land where the Chase Hospital stands.
Under the agreement, the site can only be used as a hospital which could potentially cause problems because the new plans would effectively mean that half of the ward would become a nursing home.
The clause binds the health authority Ònot to carry on any trade, manufacture or profession whatsoever upon the property or any part thereof nor to use the same otherwise than as a community hospital and ambulance stationÓ.
But the director of planning at the North Hampshire Primary Care Trust Peter Kelly told The Herald that legal experts had been examining the legal agreement and believed that some parts no longer applied to the hospital site.
However he said that the PCT was Òawaiting confirmationÓ of its suspicions before it could be sure.
NHPCT chairman Tony Ludlow added his voice to the calls for residents to consider carefully what the primary care trust hoped to offer.
He said: ÒPlease think about this alternative proposal. I am hoping that we get funding for this and that we will be able formally to propose that the Chase has 24 beds instead of the 16 which we are proposing to close.
ÒIt can be used for nursing home care and respite care and it would give us complete flexibility.Ó
Health bosses promised residents at the meeting Òwe are listening to youÓ and reminded them that they only have seven days to submit their comments to the health authority before the deadline on Thursday, January 31.
So far the health authority has received around 500 letters about the plans as well as a petition signed by 2,500 people from the local area.
After ThursdayÕs meeting Hazel OÕSullivan told The Herald that the possible new plans for the Chase were not enough to stop the growing campaign.
She said: ÒTo do the alterations would require closure of the hospital for as much as ten months - you could build a hospital faster!
ÒI believe that, possibly even before it reopens, things will change again and the NHS beds will never come to fruition. We will have lost our hospital ward.Ó