BEDS at Stroud General Hospital were cut temporarily by almost a half due to a shortage of nurses earlier this month.

The number of beds was reduced from 38 to 22, Gloucestershire Care Services NHS Trust has said.

In a statement issued on Monday, a Trust spokesman said the measure had been temporary and that bed numbers at the Trinity Road unit had now been increased.

They were reduced for nine days from Wednesday, October 8, but were increased to 26 on Friday and rose again over the weekend.

There are currently 30 beds available.

Gloucestershire Care Services informed Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group of its decision on October 8, citing reduced staffing levels and the extra care needed for more patients at risk of falls as factors in the decision.

Susan Field, director of service transformation, whose remit covers the Trust’s seven community hospitals, said: “Care on a hospital ward is provided by a diverse multi-disciplinary team. To provide safe, high-quality care it is important to have both the right number of staff on duty as well as the right mix of skills.

“The staffing required to provide care will vary based on the needs of patients, and can change from day to day, based on assessments by the ward sister and matron.”

The hospital currently has seven nursing vacancies out of 23 whole time equivalent posts.

Ms Field added: “As with other areas of the country we are finding nurse recruitment a challenge, particularly with some aspects of our nursing workforce such as those who have recently qualified, and as a result of our vacancies we decided temporarily to reduce the number of beds available.

“We held a very successful open day on October 9 and we have a number of applications for positions at Stroud Hospital.

“We also have a number of new starters due to take up posts at the hospital throughout November which will see bed availability increase again.

“We anticipate being back to full capacity later next month.”