CAMPAIGNERS have voiced concerns over plans to take the new community hospital in Dursley out of NHS hands before it even opens.

Members of Cam, Dursley and Berkeley Labour Party, along with some local residents, are protesting against the move which would see the Vale Community Hospital run by a new social enterprise group set up by NHS Gloucestershire.

It is all part of wider reforms in which Primary Care Trusts are stripping themselves of the role of provider of care services.

However those in opposition see the move as a dangerous step towards privatisation. Campaigners say social enterprise trusts will be vulnerable to takeovers by private companies if they do not make a profit.

The Labour Party group held a candlelit vigil outside the Vale Community Hospital last week to protest against the plans and to show opposition to the Government's Health and Social Care Bill, currently going through parliament.

Paul Denney, chairman of the group and ward councillor for Cam, said: "The Bill means the NHS is moving to a system of wholesale competition. The Government still plans a far larger role for private providers which effectively means it is cutting up the NHS - and private patients will still be able to jump the queue.

"The other reason for the candlelit vigil was to let people know the new Dursley Hospital is being taken out of the NHS even before it’s been opened.

"NHS Gloucestershire has been planning this since last August, but they say they don’t need to consult local people which is why many people in this area have no idea this is happening.

"Our new hospital, our health visitors, district nurses, care workers, physiotherapists, podiatry workers will all be put into a social enterprise. They will no longer be part of the NHS."

However chief executive of NHS Gloucestershire, which is the local PCT, Jan Stubbings, said they had consulted widely with their staff and other representatives.

She said the NHS Gloucestershire board considered the social enterprise plan the best way of supporting a more joined up approach to health and social care services.

"The full business plan showed that the new social enterprise organisation will provide the highest standards of clinical care, deliver safe services, manage services effectively and live within its means financially," added Mrs Stubbings.

"It is important to stress that NHS patients will continue to access the range of NHS funded community services that are currently available and services will be run by an organisation responsible for delivering the NHS values."