FARNHAM'S new hospital could see 80 per cent of its beds lost from their current use, and Farnham patients displaced to the Royal Surrey County Hospital at Guildford, if a new option for the possible closure of Milford Hospital goes ahead. At a public meeting in the Memorial Hall, Farnham, the Guildford and Waverley Primary Care Trust (PCT) announced that its options now include the possibility that 50 of Farnham Hospital's beds could be used to replace rehabilitation beds currently provided by the 60-bedded Milford Hospital, the future of which hangs in the balance. The meeting, staged last Wednesday afternoon by the PCT to consult the public on the options available in connection with Milford Hospital's possible closure, was chaired by PCT chairman Chris Grimes. A panel of PCT representatives, including the director of clinical services development, Cheryl Hamilton, and chief executive Elizabeth Slinn, lined up to answer questions from the public - and it was admitted that if 50 of Farnham's beds were used to replace those at Milford, it would mean using existing beds and would not involve any new build. And if Farnham beds are used to replace the specialist rehabilitation service currently provided at Milford, the PCT has admitted that it will mean Farnham patients being displaced to the Royal Surrey in Guildford. Liberal Democrat prospective parliamentary candidate Simon Cordon attended the meeting and has since spoken out against the implications for Farnham people if the new proposal goes ahead. Mr Cordon said that 21 of Farnham's beds are currently used by Surrey and Hants Borders (mental health) Trust for care of elderly psychiatric patients. "This leaves just 63 beds," he said. "These are already fully used by patients being discharged from Frimley Park or by Farnham GPs who admit a patient, often elderly, to avoid an acute or chronic condition occurring. "If the PCT takes these beds away, they will in effect be closing 80 per cent of the beds at Farnham from their current use." He added: "We fought to keep Farnham Hospital four years ago and not for the PCT now to effectively take it away as a service for local people. I intend to call for this plan to be abandoned straight away." In response to the PCT's argument that Milford Hospital serves all of the Waverley and Guildford population and that it is not unreasonable to relocate its services to another hospital within Waverley, Mr Cordon said: "The fact is that during the past year only two patients out of 300 at Milford were from Farnham. "I have consistently reminded the PCT that Farnham hospital operates in conduction with the Frimley Park health community and Farnham looks to Frimley Park much more than to the Royal Surrey. He added: "The PCT keeps ignoring this. They should not include Farnham in their calculations. It is separate to the rest of the PCT's area and they should organise services accordingly. "Farnham is out of bounds as far as I am concerned to any cost cutting exercises from the PCT that would seek to generally use Farnham Hospital for patients outside of the Farnham and Frimley catchment area. "We established that principal four years ago and we must stick to it." In response to Mr Cordon's comments, the Guildford and Waverley PCT has issued the following statement: "Guildford and Waverley Primary Care Trust has been asked to consider other options, and that includes an option to have all the beds at Farnham, in response to feedback it has received during the last seven weeks of the public consultation. "However, no firm decision has been made about any of these emerging options and will not be taken until the formal Options Appraisal on December 13. Until that time, the PCT remains open to considering any other options that may be put forward. "After the formal Options Appraisal is completed, a supplementary document will then be produced giving details about the preferred options and a formal consultation on these options will follow. "The PCT certainly has no intention of abandoning any options which have emerged so far, but treating them all with equal rigour during the Options Appraisal process. Only at that stage will any non viable options be rejected." Other options put forward by the PCT included a "single site" option, with all beds being replaced at the Royal Surrey County Hospital; a "split site" option, with 28 beds on the Royal Surrey County Hospital site and 22 beds at Farnham Hospital; a "multi site" option, with the beds being distributed around the existing community hospitals, and an option to retain services on the Milford hospital site, developing services in conjunction with other providers or partners.