A camel was centre stage in a protest in Warwick today (January 22) as residents made their feelings known to the county council about in-patient beds at Ellen Badger Hospital.

Protestors holding placards saying 'this is the last straw' and 'Shipston HAD a hospital' covered the steps at Shire Hall ahead of a Warwickshire County Council meeting on the controversial project.

Locals have been campaigning to get community beds returned to the Shipston-on-Stour hospital, with NHS Coventry and Warwickshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) currently "carefully considering" where in-patient beds are placed.

A new building is currently being built at the Ellen Badger but is expected to only be used for out-patient care.

The ICB has launched a public consultation on where the beds should be placed, and today Warwickshire County Council held a meeting to consider a response to the consultation.

'Baxter' the camel was part of the protest (image by Darren Lee Clarke)

'Baxter' the camel joined the protestors today, as Ildicote business Joseph's Amazing Camels has backed the campaign.

The furore over the future of services at the redeveloped Ellen Badger Hospital, Shipston, has rumbled on for years.

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The old facility closed its doors in January 2022 in order to demolish and rebuild parts that were deemed beyond repair.

Community beds for patients needing onward recovery, rehabilitation or who are getting ready for discharge were part of the initial proposals but the 35 beds commissioned for through the South Warwickshire Community Hospital Review are currently catered for in Warwick and Stratford.

It was planned to keep it that way but further review has thrown up an extra option – splitting the 35 across the three locations, moving up to 12 of them back to Shipston but at the expense of those currently at the Nicol Unit, Stratford Hospital and the Campion Ward, Leamington Spa Hospital, Warwick. 

Protestors holding placards saying 'this is the last straw' and 'Shipston HAD a hospital' (image by Darren Lee Clarke)