A rehabilitation ward for stroke patients at Southmead Hospital is to be closed next month.

The hospital, off Southmead Road, currently has two wards for stroke patients, one with 12 beds and the other with 24.

Four beds will be lost as a result of the closure of the 12-bed ward at Southmead, while the other eight beds will be transferred to Frenchay Hospital, off Frenchay Park Road.

The 24-bed ward will remain open for rehabilitation, while Frenchay will be used for acute cases.

North Bristol NHS Trust says the cuts are being made because advancements in stroke care means lengths of stay for patients have been significantly reduced in recent years.

The four beds to go are unused and have been deemed surplus to requirements, so patients are not expected to be turfed out come November.

The Evening Post understands that university students who would have received placements at the Southmead ward have had their placements changed and agency staff are being told there are no longer any shifts available at the ward.

North Bristol NHS Trust spokesman Richard Cottle said: "Due to advancements in stroke care at North Bristol NHS Trust – particularly around the rehabilitation of our stroke patients – lengths of stay have significantly reduced over the last few years. As such, and in preparation for the opening of the new hospital in 2013/14, North Bristol NHS Trust has been planning a very small reduction in stroke beds for some time now.

"Currently we have 18 stroke beds at Frenchay Hospital for patients who are acutely ill and 36 rehabilitation beds at Southmead.

"At the end of this month a 12-bed rehabilitation ward at Southmead will close, with eight of those beds being transferred to the Frenchay stroke unit, leaving an actual, planned reduction of just four stroke beds across the organisation.

"The reduction is part of an improved service, enabling North Bristol NHS Trust to continue to provide one of this country's leading services for stroke."

The changes come ahead of the proposed redevelopment of Southmead into a £430 million 'superhospital'.

Detailed plans were submitted to Bristol City Council in July and work is expected to begin on the 800-bed hospital in the new year.