A HOSPITAL ward designed to offer patients rehabilitation support before they return home has closed.

The sub-acute rehabilitation ward at Fairfield General Hospital, in Bury, has been shut and various changes have been brought in.

Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs Fairfield General, said the closure of Ward 18 makes way for new models of care to better address patient needs.

The hospital's discharge lounge will be relocated from the Ambulatory Care Unit (ACU) to Ward 18 to improve patient flow.

Meanwhile, the ACU hours have been extended to manage patients requiring acute treatment outside an emergency department setting.

A total of 10 beds have also been added to the Acute Medical Unit (AMU) to support patient flow from the Emergency Department.

Bury Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG)'s Governing Body said it had been assured there would not be any reduced service as a result of the closure of ward 18.

Howard Hughes, Clinical Lead on the CCG Governing Body, said at a meeting this week: "Ward 18 was dealing with issues it was not originally set up to do."

Margaret O'Dwyer, the CCG's Deputy Chief Officer and Director of Commissioning and Business Delivery, said: "During a meeting with Pennine Acute, our chief officer Stuart North mentioned we were taking out a number of beds at this critical time going into the winter period. But they felt confident it was the right thing to do.

"There has been a level of transparency by the hospital trust. There was very little sub-acute rehabilitation taking place on the ward.

"We agreed to write to the Local Care Organisation (LCO) asking them to consider what gaps there are in the community, if any, around sub-acute rehabilitation."

Pennine Acute also said 30 per cent of patients at Fairfield General are residents of Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale.

In response, a total of eight beds have been opened at Tudor Court, in Heywood, for patients who could be better served in the community.

The hospital trust said: "The ACU hours have been extended and will provide more appropriate pathways for patients who do not require admission.

"The discharge lounge will be relocated following the necessary work to improve the environment.

"The current discharge lounge is a seated area only and there are a number of patients on wards who require a bed whilst waiting for discharge.

"This facility will be flexible in criteria, to ensure maximum usage and improved patient flow."