ALTON Community Hospital's Inwood Ward could be back in service by the end of the summer. The board of North Hampshire Primary Care Trust (PCT) agreed on Tuesday to support a recommendation put forward by the Stakeholders Group that the 24-bed ward should be reopened under a nurse-led (with medical cover) "step-up, step-down" model of care. This means that it would take patients who do not need acute care (step-up) as well as those coming out of an acute hospital but needing time to recover (step-down). The aim is to provide a multi-disciplinary "centre of excellence" for intermediate care, incorporating active rehabilitation primarily for orthopaedic and stroke patients from North Hampshire. The proposed reopening would come some 15 months after the unexpected "temporary" closure of the 24-bed GP ward on June 30 last year, due to dangerously low staffing levels and the use of expensive agency staff, which was felt to compromise continuity of care. Following a strongly supported public meeting to protest against the closure of the ward, a move which was viewed by some as the beginning of the end for the hospital as a whole, a Stakeholders Group was formed to develop proposals for the future of Alton Community Hospital and for community health services in the town. The group was given until Christmas to come up with a proposal which would reduce the number of patients being admitted to acute hospitals such as Basingstoke. And this it has done. In delivering the news to East Hampshire District Council's north west area community committee, NHPCT chairman, Tony Ludlow said that the recommendation was dependent on the agreement of Alton and Bordon GPs who, from October, would be in a position to commission services and would take over the running of the Community Hospital from the PCT. There is now to be a period of discussion with the people of Alton about the outline model of care, with a public meeting to be held sometime in February on a date to be confirmed. According to Dr Ludlow, the re-opening of the ward makes sound economic sense. Bearing in mind the daily cost of treating a patient in a community hospital is around £90 compared with more than £200 for an acute hospital patient, the PCT is expecting estimated savings during the year 2007/08 of £805,000 by treating patients at Alton Community Hospital's Inwood Ward rather than at North Hampshire Hospital in Basingstoke. He further pointed out that while the original reason for closing Inwood Ward had centred on staffing problems, the new model of care is expected to be far more appealing to nurses who will have the opportunity to use their skills and abilities more fully, making it easier to recruit. It is also planned to offer more flexible working hours and working patterns to enable more part-time staff to be employed. Dr Ludlow told EHDC colleagues that it was now important to work closely with Basingstoke and Frimley Park hospital trusts to make sure appropriate patients are treated in Alton. In making the announcement, Dr Ludlow paid particular tribute to the Stakeholder Group whose members had done "an enormous amount of work in delivering the model of care that we need." In welcoming what he described as "excellent news" NW area committee chairman David O'Donnell said it demonstrated that pressure from the community did bear fruit. "It shows we do get listened to," he said.