Somerset NHS Foundation Trust has announced plans to temporarily reduce the number of beds at Burnham-On-Sea War Memorial Hospital while introducing new services as part of a “test and learn” process due to begin in April 2026.
The hospital currently has 16 inpatient beds, but under the proposals this will be reduced to 8, with the vacated space used to deliver additional services.
Health leaders say the changes are not permanent and stress that no decision has been made to close community hospital beds.
The new services planned for Burnham-On-Sea include chemotherapy, specialist outpatient clinics, weekly maternity services, and frailty support.
The update follows several months of engagement with local residents, who voiced strong support for retaining community hospital beds but also highlighted difficulties accessing GP appointments, specialist services, and the Minor Injuries Unit at Burnham-On-Sea hospital.
Somerset NHS Foundation Trust says it will work with Symphony Healthcare Services to address concerns about GP access and the reliability of the Minor Injuries Unit. Parking availability at the hospital will also be reviewed.
An analysis of population health data shows Burnham-On-Sea has one of the highest rates of cardio-metabolic, frailty, and chronic respiratory conditions in England, with half the population expected to be aged over 65 by 2040.
Somerset NHS Foundation Trust says this reinforces the need for more community-based services to reduce travel and improve access to care.
The “test and learn” approach is part of Somerset’s 10 Year Health Plan, which aims to shift more services from hospitals into local communities. Similar pilots are already underway in Frome, West Mendip and Bridgwater, with Burnham and Crewkerne forming the second wave.
Neighbourhood Stakeholder Reference Groups will be established in Burnham and Crewkerne early in 2026 to help shape the plans. These advisory groups will bring together local voices to ensure decisions reflect community priorities. Updates on the proposals will be shared in the first few months of next year.
A spokesperson adds: “Based on what we heard as part of our engagement with people in Somerset, and an analysis of the population health and needs of people in those areas, we want to test whether we can improve local people’s access to services and provide inpatient care by temporarily reducing the number of beds in both hospitals from 16 to 8 and using the vacated space to provide more services.”
“Through our engagement with the local communities in Burnham-On-Sea we have heard how people would value these new additional local services but are also concerned not to lose their local community hospital beds. This would retain beds in the community hospital and provide additional services. Any changes will be temporary and no decisions have been made to permanently close community hospital beds.”
“As part of our engagement with the public, we heard strong support for community hospital beds in Burnham-On-Sea. We also heard that people have to travel significant distances to access some services, that travel is a barrier to access, and that there is limited availability of services locally. In both areas we heard concern about access to GP services and in Burnham-On-Sea we received additional feedback about the reliability of the Minor Injuries Unit at the hospital.”
“Therefore, we have begun to develop a test and learn process that retains beds and provides additional services such as a day unit, ambulatory care, specialist outpatient appointments, and diagnostics for echocardiogram in Crewkerne and chemotherapy, specialist outpatient clinics, weekly maternity services, and support for frailty in Burnham-On-Sea.”
“In Burnham we will also look at how we can work with Symphony Healthcare Services to address the fragility of the Minor Injuries Service run from the community hospital, and we will work with them to understand and address concerns about access to GP services in both areas.”
