THE private Bon Secours Hospital has announced it will close next month with the loss of nearly 50 jobs.

The charity-run hospital, in Candlemas Lane, Beaconsfield, says it is shutting down because of increasingly competitive conditions in the private healthcare market.

Private medical insurance firm BUPA also said the hospital was not on its recommended list because it did not meet required standards.

But Bon Secours chief executive Malcolm Jones said he was stunned by BUPA's comment, saying it had not carried out any quality checks at the hospital.

The 47 staff were told of the decision last Friday and are being helped by senior staff to find other jobs.

Some could be re-located to the other Bon Secours Hospitals in Sheffield and Glasgow.

NHS bosses will meet representatives from the hospital on Wednesday to discuss the implications of the closure and the potential for recruiting staff.

The hospital had a £3.8 million refurbishment in 1995.

Hospital manager Nicola Hayes-Holgate said: "It's very sad, but the staff have done a wonderful job and we have already had a great deal of interest from other hospitals."

The hospital, which was first opened in 1936, was owned by the Sisters of Bon Secours -- an order of nuns.

Beaconsfield MP Dominic Grieve said: "It's tragic that an established hospital with great facilities has had to close."

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