![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Frenchay-Hospital-Bristol.jpg\")
<\/p>\nHealth bosses promised the new centre 12 years ago<\/p>\n
A sign for the former Frenchay Hospital<\/p>\n
Plans dating back over a decade to open a rehabilitation unit at the former Frenchay Hospital have been scrapped, sparking anger.<\/p>\n
Residents were promised the new NHS<\/a> centre in 2014 when the hospital closed and its emergency departments were relocated to Southmead<\/a>.<\/p>\n But Bristol, North Somerset<\/a> and South Gloucestershire<\/a> Integrated Care Board (BNSSG ICB) says national policy has refocused on patients\u2019 recovery in their own homes rather than in-patient facilities, so neither the need nor money are available.<\/p>\n Health chiefs are now considering selling off the land to invest elsewhere, South Gloucestershire Council<\/a> health overview and scrutiny committee was told.<\/p>\n Conservative group leader and ward Cllr Liz Brennan (Downend & Frenchay) told the meeting: \u201cThis is deeply disappointing for many residents.<\/p>\n \u201cFor years people in Frenchay and its surrounding communities were led to believe the site would deliver a meaningful healthcare service.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter the closure of Frenchay Hospital there was a clear expectation that this land would continue to serve the local health needs.<\/p>\n \u201cMy residents must have the healthcare services they were promised, and with this homecare vision it is even more important they have access to local services.<\/p>\n \u201cInstead we are now being told there is no strategic need, no financial viability and no clear plan.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople are already struggling to access GP appointments and services are stretched.<\/p>\n \u201cMany are travelling further and waiting for longer care, so when I hear there is no need, people simply do not recognise that.\u201d<\/p>\n She said the government\u2019s requirement for 22,000 in the district\u2019s new Local Plan would heap more pressure on already stretched services.<\/p>\n Cllr Brennan added: \u201cResidents were already feeling the impact of a lack of services and they deserve better than the uncertainty, inaction and missed opportunities. They deserve delivery.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat scares my community to death is the release of this site for more housing which increases this demand with no actual facilities.\u201d<\/p>\n Cllr Nic Labuschagne (Conservative, Winterbourne) told the meeting: \u201cThese were things that were planned and promised and are now not being delivered.<\/p>\n \u201cSo residents really have a major concern around this.\u201d<\/p>\n Cllr Ben Stokes (Conservative, Boyd Valley) said: \u201cResidents some years ago were given the message of closure with some comfort around healthcare facilities continuing on the site.<\/p>\n \u201cIt has now been formally announced that those are now not going to be there.<\/p>\n \u201cIt will create anger in the community.\u201d<\/p>\n He said health chiefs had made \u2018broken promises\u2019.<\/p>\n ICB chief delivery officer David Jarrett said: \u201cThe ICB has identified that there is now not an identified requirement for further additional bedded rehabilitation facilities on the Frenchay site and such a development is unlikely to be a strategic priority in the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n \u201cI do appreciate this will come as a disappointment to the committee but we hope now that releasing this land will enable North Bristol NHS Trust (NBT) to consider options for the future use of the land, including the potential opportunity to generate further capital funds for use on funding further capital priorities.<\/p>\n \u201cBut the ICB now has no other commissioning intentions for the land.\u201d<\/p>\n Council director of adult social care and housing Anne Clarke told the committee: \u201cOlder people lose their abilities if they are away from home for too long.<\/p>\n \u201cThat means some people go into long-term care who could have had many more years at home if those other options had been available to them, which also means some older people close their doors for the last time, not realising it was the last time, and that feels so wrong.<\/p>\n \u201cWe should be giving more people the opportunity to recover at home, to have rehabilitation at home, reablement at home, equipment assisted technology that enables them to continue an active life at home and in their community.\u201d<\/p>\n A report to the meeting on Wednesday, April 1, said: \u201cNational NHS policy now prioritises neighbourhood-based, home-first rehabilitation, supported by multidisciplinary teams.<\/p>\n \u201cThis represents a significant change from the assumptions that underpinned earlier plans for a bedded rehabilitation facility.<\/p>\n \u201cUpdated modelling with local and national benchmarking shows that the system currently commissions sufficient rehabilitation beds, with flexibility to increase capacity temporarily.<\/p>\n \u201cExisting facilities are adequate, and South Gloucestershire has a high share of beds \u2013 current provision in Thornbury<\/a> and Yate<\/a> is suitable and appropriately staffed.<\/p>\n \u201cSouth Gloucestershire already has more rehabilitation beds per head of population than other BNSSG localities.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Health bosses promised the new centre 12 years ago A sign for the former Frenchay Hospital Plans 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