The chief executive of a mental health trust pledged that dementia beds in Waveney would not be cut until a new care in the community scheme was proven to work.
Andrew Hopkins, acting CEO of the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, was quizzed by members of the Great Yarmouth and Waveney joint health scrutiny committee today over plans to reduce the number of beds at Carlton Court Hospital, near Lowestoft.
Mr Hopkins said the mental health trust was introducing new dementia intensive support teams to treat patients in their homes, which would reduce the demand on inpatient beds.
'We will not physically close the beds until we prove that it can work,' he said.
The acting chief executive said the NHS trust would be consulting over proposals to reduce the number of dementia beds in Waveney.
Officials plan to cut beds at Carlton Court Hospital from 12 to seven and close 12 assessment beds for the frail and elderly.
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