As a recently retired member of staff working both in theatre and on Portman Ward at Blandford Community Hospital, it is with shock and dismay that I read in the local press that the ‘powers that be’ are proposing the closure of Portman Ward, together with the relocation of theatre upstairs to Tarrant Ward.

I am at a loss as to the reasoning of this.

The hospital was provided by the Portman family at the outset for the use, care and benefit of the local community and has been doing so very successfully for many years. This community only expands and increases in numbers as time goes by, so surely the need for the facilities and services the hospital offers only increase also?

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