DYING patients will soon have to stay at Amersham Hospital instead of Chalfont and Gerrards Cross Hospital, which has failed key safety and condition checks.

Health bosses agreed to take "urgent" action to temporarily move 14 beds - for patients needing rehabilitative and end-of-life care - to Amersham in the next 12 weeks.

A fire assessment and condition survey means the first floor ward at the hospital - parts of which date back to 1871 - will have to shut for 18 months to two years once contractors had been appointed.

Katie Donlevy, director of provider services, said: "We have reached the conclusion that it is going to be the safest and most appropriate move is going to be to move the inpatient unit off the Chalfont site into alternative accomodation so we can carry out remedial works."

She said there was space at Amersham Hospital, which is six miles away by road, to the beds from the Hampden Road hospital.

Other services at Chalfont, including outpatient appointments, x-ray and bases for community staff would not be affected, she said.

The PCT would "manage admissions down until alternatvie accomodation is fully operational" she said. There was a waiting list of five to ten patients for the beds, she said.