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Rescued hospital temporarily shuts for heating works

Richard PriceWest Midlands
News imageBBC The entrance of a hospital building with a large canopy over a glass frontage. The building is single-storey, with railings in front of the glass doors either side of some steps which are painted yellow.BBC
Bishop's Castle Community Hospital is temporarily closed while a new heating system is being installed

A hospital saved from closure has temporarily shut its doors to install a new heating system.

Services at Bishop's Castle Community Hospital in Shropshire were saved in 2024 after a temporary closure announced in 2021 looked set to become permanent due to a lack of nurses.

The hospital is now temporarily closed for a short period - expected to be up to three weeks - while work is carried out to address the issues affecting its heating system.

"We understand how important Bishop's Castle Community Hospital is to local people and recognise the uncertainty this temporary closure may cause," the hospital said.

"We will continue to provide updates as work progresses and further information becomes available."

The hospital's statement online said while the estimated timeframe for reopening to patients was three weeks, the hospital would only reopen when it was safe to do so.

News imageA large group of protesters with many dressing in yellow, with two at the front holding yellow a banner that reads "save our rural NHS beds" in red letters although the initial "r" of rural is obscured.
Campaigners worked with the NHS trust to keep beds at the hospital open

Prior to the community campaign, bosses had said they could not recruit enough staff for 24/7 operations at the rural hospital, and a temporary suspension announced in 2021 looked set to be made permanent.

They changed their minds in 2024, however, and announced the beds would reopen after campaigners and the health trust running the site worked together to bring more nurses to the town.

Efforts to save the hospital's inpatient services involved public meetings and even threats of legal action as well as numerous protests.

Bishop's Castle mayor Josh Dickin even made an eye-catching contribution to the campaign, being pushed 18 miles in a bed while wearing pyjamas and a long blonde wig.

News imageMichael Olivant A group of people dressed mostly in yellow are pushing a wheeled bed down a street with parked cars on one side. There are further parked cars and buildings in the distance.Michael Olivant
Dickin was pushed 18 miles around the district on a bed as part of the campaign to save the hospital

During the current closure the NHS is set to look into the need for other for more substantial maintenance work at the site, in order to come up with a permanent solution to the hospital's heating problems.

Patients who would have received care at Bishop's Castle Community Hospital wil be supported at alternative community hospitals.

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