THE chief nurse who oversees health services in mid and south Essex says without the temporary closure of services in Maldon, the NHS might struggle to provide quality care to residents.

Inpatient community services for stroke rehabilitation, intermediate care, and midwifery-led births at St Peter’s Hospital in Maldon are set to be temporarily located to other hospitals in Essex.

This is due to the building having been seen to deteriorate in recent years, with the Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board deciding providing a high-quality service at the Maldon site is “no longer possible”.

Long-term solutions to improve of stroke rehabilitation, intermediate care and midwifery-led birthing services at St Peter's Hospital are being discussed.

Formal plans could be drawn up by the end of the year with a formal public consultation and decision expected to be made in the early part of 2024.

For now, some members of staff will be asked to change their usual place of work.

Stephanie Dawe, chief nurse at the Mid and South Essex Community Collaborative, said the changes meet the immediate needs of the service.

She said: “We have been looking at how best to organise community health services for the coming winter.

“Experience has shown that without making adjustments, the NHS might struggle to sustain safe and high-quality services for patients.

“Plans will see inpatient community services, including stroke rehabilitation, at St Peter’s Hospital in Maldon change.

“The changes reflect the immediate needs of the service, are necessarily temporary in nature and affect only inpatient provision.

“Measures will be implemented to ensure that patient care continues with minimal interruptions during the move.

“Increasing the number of community inpatient beds for stroke rehabilitation will mean more patients can be safely transferred from our hospitals, helping us to accommodate more urgent cases in those acute settings more effectively.

“Some staff will be asked to change their usual place of work and we will ensure the normal staff consultation processes are followed in relation to such changes.

“Reasonable steps will be taken to minimise the impact on the staff involved and to support them with any transition.”