COUNCILLORS in Moretonhampstead recently met MP Mel Stride, urging a pause on the sale of the local hospital to allow for an independent structural survey to be carried out.

Cllr Catherine Fileman-Wright, Cllr Janette Evans and Cllr Chris Walden of Moretonhampstead Parish Council, together with Alex Austin of Moretonhampstead Health Centre and Richard Foxwell of Wellmoor, met with the MP for Central Devon to discuss the future of Moretonhampstead Community Hospital.

A petition organised by Moretonhampstead Health Centre to save the hospital has now reached nearly 1,600 signatures.

The hospital was closed last summer by the NHS due to ‘safety and infrastructure issues’ which included a leaking roof.

The group explained to Sir Mel that it is vital for rural communities to have access to good, local health services, and outlined how Moretonhampstead Community Hospital could continue to play a key role in providing those services.

If sold, the hospital would be permanently lost as a health and wellbeing resource for the community, and the proceeds from any sale would be used elsewhere within the NHS.

Sir Mel Stride MP said: ‘I appreciated the opportunity to meet with the Parish Council and hear their concerns directly.

‘I have already raised questions with the NHS about the hospital’s future and will continue to engage on this issue to ensure local voices are heard’.

The group asked Sir Mel to help with the following:

• to pause the sale of the hospital in order to allow a full independent structural survey to be completed;

• to set up a meeting with senior officials at NHS Devon to discuss how the hospital could be used as a community health and wellbeing hub;

• if the hospital is sold, to explore whether the proceeds could be used to improve health services for this community.