Health bosses in Bucks have once again been forced to deny that there are plans to close Marlow’s hospital.

The community hospital, on Victoria Road, currently provides 24-hour rehabilitative care and terminal care for acute medical patients, but earlier this month, rumours surfaced that it could close down.

The rumours were quashed by the Bucks Healthcare Trust, but fears over the hospital’s future have been raised again by concerned readers.

A woman whose husband was a patient at the community hospital for around six weeks, who did not want to be named, told the Free Press that a staff member informed her it would be closed in April.

She said: “It is a wonderful hospital. Someone at the hospital told me that it will be closing and I was very surprised when I heard this. It is a lovely place with wonderful staff.

“If it closes, where will the elderly people that the hospital look after go? They help elderly people get back on their feet.”

In response to the concerns of residents, a spokesman for the Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust told the Marlow Free Press at the beginning of February that they are not planning to close the community hospital, but are pressing on with plans for “community hubs”, which will look at how care services provided in the community can be developed.

A new statement from a Trust spokesman, Andrew Smart, “reassured” residents that they have “no plans” to close it.

He said: “We would like to reassure people that there are no plans to close Marlow Hospital. On the contrary, we want to expand and provide more care closer to people’s homes.

“Over the last year we have been working with our partners, staff and the public to discuss and develop a vision for ‘community hubs’ – exploring how we can bring together health, care and the voluntary sector to support people to manage their health and wellbeing.

“We’re about to start a pilot for these hubs in April 2017 at Marlow Hospital which will help patients to access prevention services, primary care services and hospital services (such as outpatient appointments, wound care or diagnostic testing) that they may have previously had to travel to.

“The hubs will also have expert advice and guidance from voluntary organisations and frailty assessment clinics which to help frail older people to stay at home and avoid an A&E visit or hospital admission.

“These discussions are still ongoing and we are committed to continuing to involve our communities and create hubs that will best meet the needs of local people.”