THE CLOSURE of a Dorset hospital’s A&E without establishing whether alternative care will be available is unlawful, the High Court heard yesterday.

Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) decided last September to make “significant changes to the configuration of health services in the Dorset area,” including axing Poole Hospital’s A&E and specialist maternity unit.

The changes mean the Poole A&E has been “downgraded” to a GP-led urgent care centre and emergency care will only be available at Royal Bournemouth Hospital, nearly eight miles away, or Dorset County Hospital, more than 20 miles distant.