A SURGICAL ward is to be closed and operations delayed at Poole Hospital as bosses battle a £5.8m deficit.

The Daily Echo revealed in July how Poole Hospital NHS Trust was struggling to break even at the end of the financial year and had put in place a number of measures to combat the cash crisis.

Bosses, who said the deficit had been caused because they had not received the government funding they had in previous years, admitted then that ward closures were not being ruled out.

They have now decided to implement that course of action, closing surgical ward B5 from December 1.

The unit will reopen on April 1, but only as a five-day ward, treating inpatients during the week who will usually be well enough to go home by the weekend.

As 85 per cent of the trust's work relates to emergency and urgent cases, bosses hope reducing the number of routine patients treated will help cut costs.

They have stressed there will be no redundancies as the 29 staff affected will be posted elsewhere and will be given the opportunity during the four-month closure to acquire additional skills to work on the five-day ward. Their pay will not be affected.

As a result of the closure, some non-urgent surgical operations will be deferred but staff still expect to treat even the most routine cases within six months.

Chief executive Sue Sutherland said: "We had planned for some time to convert this surgical ward to five-day working, but treating more patients earlier in the year has restricted our ability to save as much as we planned.

"Although Poole is a very efficient hospital, running at 85 per cent of the average cost of an NHS trust, treating extra emergency cases costs a lot of money and we must make sure that we can continue to treat all emergencies."

First published: October 18