More than 1,000 people have signed a petition opposing ward closures at Rowley Regis Hospital.

Patients and residents are battling against the confirmed closure of Eliza Tinsley ward and the proposed closure of the McCarthy ward.

The petition is being circulated as Sandwell & West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust revealed it is being forced to make £20 million of cuts and 340 job losses across Birmingham and Sandwell.

The Eliza Tinsley ward had 12 beds for short stay acutely ill patients and was being run by GPs as a pilot project.This was in in partnership with Sandwell Primary Care Trust.

But it was closed down because hospital bosses said it was not possible to provide continuing GP cover.

The trust is also planning to move 24 inpatient beds on McCarthy Ward to Sandwell Hospital, where the rehabilitation unit will have an elderly care consultant on-site.

However, it has been decided that this move will not take place until plans for the development of new intermediate care facilities on site at Rowley have been reviewed and local consultation has taken place.

Campaigner James Morris, is leading the mission to keep the ward open and said the petition will be submitted soon.

He said: “We are very concerned that this is the start of further closures. People are very worried, it is their local hospital and they like the feeling of a community hospital.

It is something that is valued here.”Hospital bosses say there are still busy outpatient services at Rowley Regis Hospital, in Moor Lane, which see over 12,000 patients a year, and there are plans to further expand these services by adding ophthalmology before the end of June.

The Express & Star revealed last week that more than 340 posts will be shed from hospitals in Sandwell and Birmingham as part of a £20 million cost-cutting programme.

Up to 20 of those jobs will go through compulsory redundancies, bosses said.Around 20 more job losses will be voluntary, while the rest will be achieved through natural wastage or apply to posts that are already vacant.

Hospital bosses have insisted none of the compulsory job cuts will affect front-line staff and will not impact upon patient care at Sandwell, Rowley Regis and City hospitals.