Update on development of a test and learn process in Crewkerne

Listening to our communities

In 2025, we held a series of listening and engagement events across Somerset to understand people’s experiences of health services and what matters most to them.

People in the Crewkerne area told us there is strong support for retaining community hospital beds, alongside concerns that travelling long distances to access some services can act as a barrier to care. They also highlighted the limited availability of services locally and raised concerns about access to GP services for local people.

The population health profile for Crewkerne reflects an ageing population, predominantly made up of people aged between 55 and 79 years. There is a high prevalence of cardiovascular and metabolic conditions, including obesity, non‑diabetic hyperglycaemia and diabetes, as well as cancer. Levels of frailty‑associated conditions are also evident and are consistent with the area’s ageing demographics.

Test and Learn

Based on the outcome of the engagement and a good understanding of the population health and needs of the local population, we made a decision to develop a test and learn process that retains beds in Crewkerne Community Hospital but temporarily reduces them from 16 to 8, and provides additional services such as such as a day unit, ambulatory care, specialist outpatient appointments, and diagnostics for echocardiogram in Crewkerne.

This retains beds in the community hospital and provides additional services. Any changes will be temporary, and no decisions have been made to permanently close community hospital beds.

Our colleagues have spent the last few months planning how to provide additional services from Crewkerne Community Hospital, using space freed up by the reduction in the number of beds. From 1 April, we will close 8 beds as patients are discharged from those beds. Three new services, provided by Symphony Healthcare Services, will begin in April and further services are being developed.

The new services that are being introduced in April are:

• A blood service that enables local people to have blood tests
• NHS health checks
• A clinic for 24-hour blood pressure and ECG monitoring
• Symphony is also planning to hold monthly clinics on different long-term conditions from the community hospital.

Services under development

We are planning to provide a range of outpatient services from the hospital that could include a catheter clinic, wound care, older person’s mental health, dementia, community therapy, joint occupational and physiotherapy assessment clinic, cancer services and frailty clinics.

We are also aiming to run an ambulatory care service from the hospital for up to two days a week. Planning is going well and we will provide an update as more services become available from the community hospital.

We are also doing some relatively minor building work at the hospital to enable us to make best use of the space and provide a quiet room for patients’ relatives and a space for colleagues to meet with them; and an end of life care room that enables families to stay overnight at the hospital if they wish.

Your views are important

Earlier this year, we set up Neighbourhood Stakeholder Reference Groups in each of the areas where we are running a test and learn process. They are advisory groups that bring together a diverse range of voices to help shape community health and care services, ensuring decisions are informed by real experiences and local priorities.