HEALTH bosses have confirmed in-patient beds at Fordingbridge Hospital will re-open as the Forest Journal hands over a petition of over 2,000 names on behalf of the community.

The petition, along with numerous letters of support for the Save Our Beds campaign, was handed over to Katrina Percy, director of care services for Hampshire Primary Care Trust (PCT), today.

And Ms Percy said Ford Ward, which has been closed since October while an external inquiry into standards of care is carried out, will eventually re-open and that £120,000 is now being spent on refurbishing it.

She said: "The ward is going to re-open. It is the timing I can't be 100 per cent sure of. The external report goes to the PCT board in the third week of March with its recommendations and the timescale in which to implement those recommendations."

When the doors of the ward, which offers rehabilitation for local people close to their homes, were closed to new patients immediate fears were raised that the PCT was trying to permanently close the ward by stealth'.

The PCT has always insisted it is the intention to re-open the ward - but only if it is in a position to guarantee it is safe and practicable to do so and adequate staff can be found.

The Journal launched the Save Our Beds campaign to ensure the voices of local people were heard and huge numbers came forward to give their support and to speak of their positive experiences at the hospital.

Ms Percy said: "It encourages me how much support the NHS has in Fordingbridge and it is good to know how much support is there for this facility. I want to be clear that we are not trying to close the facility, we are trying to improve it for the local people. I don't want people to be concerned that we are trying to shut it down."

The Save Our Beds campaign has been backed by the Friends of Fordingbridge Hospital, local councillors and New Forest MP Desmond Swayne, the second time all have joined forces in the support of the hospital in the past few years, following a successful drive to save it from the threat of closure in 2005.

Mr Swayne said: "I think the ward is not only going to re-open but it is going to have a new lease of life and there is going to be a new impetus to improve the facilities - and I am pretty sure this is all down to the campaign."