Proposals to close a hospital ward 18 months after it opened have sparked concerns from with council bosses that the service “wasn’t well managed”.

The Elizabeth Ward at Orpington Hospital looks set to be closed next month as King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust looks to cut costs.

The ward provides short-term care for frail elderly patients transferred from the Princess Royal University Hospital (PRUH) in Farnborough.

The trust was plunged into financial special measures last year, and said in a letter to Bromley Council that closure could help deliver savings.

Matthew Trainer, managing director at PRUH, said in the letter to the head of adult social care: “The length of stay has been compounded due to shortage of discharge co-ordinators and social workers, patients waiting for residential placements, home packages of care and lack of available respite beds in the community setting.

“We have also had challenges with recruitment which has led to overspend on locum doctors; and we’ve had to use bank and agency nurses to run a seven-day service.

“The ongoing high running costs mean we are struggling to further develop the service and we can’t deliver essential savings.”

Two wards were opened in January 2017, the Elizabeth and Churchill wards, opening 38 beds to bridge the gap between hospital and home care.

The ward could be re-purposed, but will no longer be providing short-term care for frail patients.

In a letter responding to the trust, released to this newspaper, the council’s head of adult services Stephen John said he was apprehensive about the reasoning for the closure.

Mr John said: “I have concerns that the service wasn’t well managed as per the original proposal including step up and day clinics.

“Regarding the step up to bridge the gap between home and acute hospital admissions not being utilised, how was it proposed to access the geriatrician led care for the frail and elderly other than via A&E?

“With the closure of Elizabeth Ward I need reassurance of the plans to ensure there is access to specialist care as well as sufficient beds.”

The council head said that if the services had been better managed there would have been less “detrimental impacts” on workloads.

Mr John added: “I am also apprehensive regarding forward costs; the savings that will be made from the closure of the ward, where will this funding be reinvested in community services?

“How will patients, previously cared for on Elizabeth ward, be safeguarded in the community without any additional resource coming from Adult Social Care?

“What are the plans to manage the closure and ensure care is still provided to those who need it without going via A&E?”

The NHS trust was placed in special measures in December, with the regulator saying a deficit of £92m was forecast for this year, more than double the original £28m planned for.

The number of over-65s in Bromley is 60,000, the largest ageing population in the capital.

The proposal will be debated at a special council meeting on Monday, July 30.