A Shropshire patient has spoken of her fears of a specialist, rheumatology ward closing at the the county’s orthopaedic Hospital.Sylvia James, from Church Stretton, a rheumatoid arthritis sufferer, has been a patient at the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Hospital, Oswestry, for a decade, enduring several operations for her condition.

She says she now fears being cared for in an ordinary ward without the specialist nursing skills that the Ercall Ward staff have built up over the years.

The hospital is currently consulting on the proposed closure of the Ercall ward with the loss of 24 beds.

The chief executive of the hospital, Wendy Farrington Chadd, said: “With changing treatments, those with rheumatoid arthritis are now being treated at home or much closer to home. They tend only to need to come into hospital for joint operations and will be better being looked after in an orthopaedic ward.”

She said clinical staff from Ercall ward would be offered redeployment and retraining in other areas.

Miss James, a senior citizen, said she had been treated in an ordinary ward in the past and said it had been an horrendous experience.

“When you have rheumatoid arthritis there are a lot of things you cannot do at the best of times. Ercall ward has specialist mattress and aids to help sufferers and an amazing team of skilled staff who know the problems we face.

“I am very worried about the future as I know I face more operations.”

The changes proposed at the orthopaedic follow a four-month review by finance experts Ernst and Young and decisions by the hospital’s NHS trust board.

There are also plans to alter the overtime payments for staff in a bid to bring down costs for running the hospital.