Anna Sabine, the Liberal Democrat MP for Frome and East Somerset, has publicly expressed her gratitude to the NHS staff at Frome Community Hospital who saved her husband’s life after he suffered an anaphylactic shock earlier this year.
Speaking during a Westminster Hall debate on June 16 about the future of community hospitals across the UK, Mrs Sabine highlighted the vital role these hospitals play, especially in rural areas like her constituency where travel to larger general hospitals can be lengthy. She emphasized that community hospitals not only provide lifesaving care close to home but also relieve pressure on major hospitals and help families support their loved ones without enduring long journeys.
Mrs Sabine urged the government and the NHS Somerset integrated care board (ICB) to ensure that community hospitals remain properly funded and equipped amidst ongoing reforms. She specifically raised concerns over recent “test and learn” exercises by the ICB that have reduced inpatient beds at Frome Community Hospital and other Somerset sites. Highlighting a nationwide issue of “bed-blocking,” where patients remain in acute hospital beds due to a lack of available community care, she questioned whether these bed reductions were contributing to the problem.
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“I know from visiting the Royal United Hospital in Bath that one of the biggest challenges is discharging patients to appropriate community settings. Yet, we are cutting beds in those very community hospitals,” Mrs Sabine explained. She has actively lobbied for the restoration of inpatient beds at Frome and suggested that the hospital could become a government community health hub to better serve semi-rural populations, noting disappointment that Frome was excluded from the initial list of locations.
The ICB is currently undergoing a merger with neighbouring ICBs in Bath and North East Somerset, Dorset, Swindon, and Wiltshire, with the new cluster organisation expected to take over NHS funding decisions by late 2027.
Mrs Sabine concluded by stressing the importance of involving local communities in shaping the future of their hospitals. “My constituents deserve a community hospital that reflects the needs of a growing town and a process that treats them as genuine partners in shaping it,” she said.
Parliamentary under-secretary for health and social care, Sharon Hodgson MP, responded by affirming the government’s commitment to community hospitals as a key component of the NHS’s ten-year plan. She underscored the importance of integrated neighbourhood health services that include community hospitals alongside primary care, mental health, social care, and voluntary sectors.
“The future of community hospitals is about how we use all our community assets to provide high-quality care closer to home, not just about the number of hospitals,” Hodgson stated, highlighting the need for tailored approaches that consider local needs, rurality, workforce, and sustainability.