Surgery Services at Cirencester Hospital

NHS partners across Gloucestershire are reassuring communities about what’s happening with Cirencester Hospital.

The hospital remains a really important centre for healthcare in the Cotswolds. The ambition is that it will continue to thrive, supporting modern neighbourhood health services and ensuring that the care people need most often is available as close to home as possible.

We know that temporary changes may cause concern, which is completely understandable and it is important that we set out what’s currently happening, why these changes are being tried, and what will happen next.

Why temporary ‘tests of change’ are being used

Across Gloucestershire, the NHS is carrying out time‑limited ‘tests of change’ to understand whether organising some services differently can:

• improve patient care, experience and outcomes
• make better use of specialist staff and facilities
• reduce delays and cancellations
• increase efficiency across the system.

These tests are temporary by design. Their impact on patients, staff and services is being monitored closely and forms part of a formal evaluation, which will be shared publicly at the end of the trial periods.

Importantly, no long‑term decisions have been made about individual services, facilities or hospital sites. The purpose is to test new ways of working, not to predetermine future outcomes.

What is being tested at Cirencester Hospital

Developing services for people with more complex needs

One test, led by Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Trust, at Cirencester Hospital focuses on looking at how we could better meet the needs of people with more complex physical and mental health needs.

Beds have been reorganised to:

• retain one intermediate care ward with 28 beds, and
• create a specialist 15‑bed frailty complex care unit.

This model aims to ensure people receive the most appropriate care, support recovery and rehabilitation, and help patients return home as quickly and safely as possible where appropriate.

Temporary pause to planned day‑case surgery

Planned day‑case surgery in the community theatre at Cirencester Hospital, which is leased by Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, is currently paused as part of a wider county‑wide test of change affecting community theatres.

This test explores a ‘centres of excellence’ approach, where some specialist surgical procedures are temporarily concentrated at fewer sites to understand whether this:

• improves efficiency and waiting times
• reduces last‑minute cancellations
• makes better use of specialist staff and equipment
• supports staff training and development

During this period, surgical activity previously carried out at Cirencester is taking place at other hospitals in the county, including Stroud, Tewkesbury, Cheltenham and Gloucester.

Community theatres across Gloucestershire are used by patients from many areas, and people often travel within the county for one‑off surgical procedures.

What is not changing

Both of these tests involve services which are available to people from across the county and do not represent permanent closures or decisions.

All other services at Cirencester Hospital continue as normal, including:

• the Minor Injury and Illness Unit
• inpatient services
• outpatient services such as therapy and podiatry
• community and neighbourhood health teams

Cirencester Hospital remains an important part of local community NHS services, continuing to provide care for local people.

Each test of change will be formally evaluated, using agreed criteria that include:

• patient outcomes and experience
• staff feedback
• public and community feedback
• service performance data.

Evaluation reports will be shared publicly at the end of the trial periods and will help inform next steps. Further engagement with patients, staff, local communities and elected representatives will take place before any future decisions are considered.