Response to claims about the future of Portland Hospital

The Defend Dorset NHS posts about Portland Hospital on Facebook and Twitter are a complete misrepresentation and distortion of the paper and discussion that took place at the Dorset HealthCare Board yesterday.

The Trust Board discussion was a positive one about the Dorset HealthCare Estates Strategy and how we will invest in facilities to deliver the best health care for the people of Dorset.

The Board discussed the priority for different schemes and how we would approach the funding of them. Dorset HealthCare has invested more than £34 million over the last five years and has plans to invest more than double that in the next five. This is a very positive story for the people of Dorset.

Portland Hospital

To be absolutely clear, there is no plan to sell Portland Hospital. At yesterday’s meeting, which is not reported in the social media posts, the Board discussed a series of engagement meetings in October with the people of Portland to plan for NHS services on the island. These will be publicised soon.

The Portland Hospital site will be part of those discussions and the site could possibly be used as a new hub for the island, as the site for a care home, or for other health services. The hospital is not valued at £7 million. It is not being sold.