STAFF at Somerset’s community hospitals claim they are being interviewed to “see who keeps their jobs” ahead of wider NHS reforms.

The Somerset NHS Foundation Trust operates 13 inpatient wards across its 11 community hospitals, located in towns like Frome and Shepton Mallet.

Following the publication of the government’s ten-year plan for the NHS, the trust is consulting on proposals to close, relocate or re-purpose inpatient beds, with more emphasis being placed on “pathway beds” to get patients out of acute hospitals and being able to receive further treatment at home.

But hospital staff have claimed they are already being interviewed “to see who keeps their jobs”, with some being “sent to ‘shadow jobs’ that don’t exist”.

Both the trust and the NHS Somerset integrated care board have stressed that no final decisions have been made, with the public having numerous options to have their say over the summer.

To this end, the hospital trust intends to make changes to the numbers of beds available at its community hospitals, and staff being redeployed accordingly.

The trust had previously indicated that it would be reducing beds at Frome Community Hospital.

Numerous members of staff employed at the community hospitals shared their experiences with the Local Democracy Reporting Service, on the condition that their identities not been made public.

One said: “At West Mendip they have been interviewing staff to see who keeps their jobs.

“They need to get rid of 16 staff, which is very sad.

“I cannot believe they are going to close beds, as when a free bed becomes available it is filled within 12 hours.”

Another commented: “It’s terrible. We are being sent to ‘shadow jobs’ that don’t exist.

“We don’t really know what is going on. The stress is high level – it’s dreadful.”

One person speculated that these changes were being pushed through ahead of a possible merger of ICBs, with the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) expecting a “50 per cent cut to operational expenses” in the event of Somerset joining up with North Somerset, Bath and Dorset.

No final decision on such a merger has yet been made.

The Somerset NHS Foundation Trust – which directly runs the community hospitals – said that the interviews at West Mendip were part of “test and learn processes”, with staff being redeployed in a bid to gather information about how the existing services could be remodelled.

A spokesperson said: “The ten-year health plan was published in July and sets out how it will reinvent the NHS through three radical shifts.

“One of those shifts is a shift of services from hospital to community, and we and NHS Somerset are working together on a programme designed to deliver that shift.

“As part of that, the trust is running two test and learn processes. The outcomes from these temporary changes, and the public engagement work led by NHS Somerset, will help shape NHS Somerset’s new community services strategy.

“There will be no compulsory redundancies.”