A hospital campaigner is calling for people who would have used beds at two community hospitals to come forward with their stories.

Save Wycombe Hospital campaign leader Ozma Hafiz wants to hear from patients who would have been using beds at Marlow and Thame’s community hospitals after it was announced last year they would not be used while healthcare bosses trialled a new six-month “community hub” pilot.

Bucks Healthcare Trust invested £1 million last year in a bid to bring care closer to people’s homes, launching the community hubs at the two hospitals.

Earlier this year, it was revealed that the six-month pilot had been extended.

Ms Hafiz said: “I’m deeply concerned about where patients who would have used the wards at Marlow and Thame hospitals are. 

“A war veteran had to fight not to be sent to a care home 30 miles away. I worry for patients who won’t be able to challenge things. 

“Closures of beds at Wycombe and Marlow have contributed to a severe bed shortage in Bucks, which has resulted in patients being affected nationally.”

Marian Mulady, from Marlow, who recently lost her husband to kidney failure, said: “Had Marlow Hospital still been open that was where he should have been, but as things now are he remained at home with the help of paid private carers and nurse back up from a charity.

“The district nurse team is under great strain due to the inability to recruit sufficient nurses so there was very little support from that quarter.

“There were times when I felt overwhelmed but we both had to soldier on.

“The so-called ‘hub’ has yet to achieve any community support from demonstrable success whereas the beds are sorely missed.”

But the League of Friends of Thame Community Hospital said they were feeling “cautiously optimistic” about the future of their hospital, saying there was “growing enthusiasm” for the project in the wider Thame community.

Spokesman Sarah Taylor said: “Over the years, the number of beds had dwindled to a level that was not financially viable and the small number of beds meant that, more often than not, they were occupied by patients from outside Thame.

“Although there was a lot of activity at the hospital, we lived in constant fear of the place being closed altogether.

“The growing consensus that frail elderly patients should be kept out of hospital and at home for as long as possible has in fact potentially given our hospital a new lease of life.”

And in a statement, the Bucks Healthcare Trust said since the pilot started, it has been able to support double the number of patients than the year before, and around 900 patients a month were being helped to stay independent and in their own homes.

Spokesman Lesley Clifford said: “Our aim in developing community hubs has been to provide more local care to people in the community.

“This is based on what we’ve consistently heard from patients, who have told us that they wish to be supported to remain more independent and to stay out of hospital if at all possible.

“If a patient has required an overnight bed, then this has still been available through our other community sites and through local care homes.

“We would urge Miss Hafiz to contact us with her concerns, so that we can look into the case she has highlighted.”