PRESSURE for all of Williton Community Hospital’s current beds to remain open is increasing.

The parish council has called for a public meeting and a petition started by the hospital’s League of Friends is growing steadily – with more due to start in Minehead and Watchet.

Local people have reacted with dismay at the move for six of the 12 beds designated for stroke patients at Williton Hospital, which form part of its 20-bed total, to be ‘temporarily’ closed from January 2017.

Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital, was asked to undertake the closures by Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), which commissions services.

It follows the rollout of a new scheme to support stroke patients in their own homes, which health service providers and commissioners say has been successfully piloted for two years and reduces the need for hospital beds.

Williton Parish Council agreed unanimously at its meeting on Monday – at which the hospital’s League of Friends gave a presentation – to write to the CCG and express opposition to the closures.

It was also agreed to call for a public meeting about the issue at which it would request the presence of the CCG and the trust.

It said it would also invite the chief executive officer of the CCG, as well as councillors, to visit the hospital.

Meanwhile, the League of Friends has set up a petition in the parish council office opposing the closure and demanding that the threatened beds be kept for general use.

The League of Friends said signature numbers were growing steadily and it had been asked to also provide petitions for people in Minehead and Watchet to sign.

The issue is also on the agenda for West Somerset Council’s scrutiny committee meeting on December 15.