Ward for mentally ill elderly to close

Shropshire's last dedicated ward for elderly mentally ill patients will close next month despite residents collecting 5,000 names for a petition, health chiefs confirmed today.

Closure plans for the Beech Ward at Whitchurch Hospital were announced last summer. Now health bosses say they are satisfied the time is right to close the ward because specialist care in the community services have been beefed up.

But campaigners say the controversial move will deliver a hammer blow to elderly care services in the county.

The ward is the last of its kind in the county and has catered for elderly dementia sufferers and those with other mental health conditions.