A FOURTH public meeting is to be held in Ashburton to discuss the threatened closure of the town’s community hospital.

Health chiefs have announced this week that South Dartmoor College will be the venue for the gathering on November 8 at 6.30pm.

A trio of meetings in the town on September 20 was fully subscribed, prompting organisers to arrange another to accommodate those who were unable to find a seat at the previous get-togethers to discuss controversial proposals to switch resources from bed-based hospital provision to care at home or in the community.

The consultation, which is being run by South Devon and Torbay Clinical Commissioning Group, closes on November 23.

A health spokesman said: ‘Those who were turned away from the earlier meeting due to lack of capacity at the venue have been sent the details of the meeting and will be given priority on November 8.’

Dr Nick Roberts, chief clinical officer for the CCG, said: ‘We are sorry that we were unable to accommodate everyone who turned up on the 20th and I hope that those people and others who could not make the meetings will come along.

‘These are really important discussions as we try to find the best way of meeting future demand for services within the money we have available.’

He added: ‘We wanted to give people sufficient notice of the new meeting and avoid times when the primary school and college are closed in October. We are also changing to a larger venue so we can accommodate more people at the meeting.’

Ashburton and Buckfastleigh is part of the CCG’s Moor to Sea locality – and under the proposed new model of care there are four elements.

These are clinical hubs, including community hospital beds and minor injuries units, local health and well-being centres, health and well-being teams and intermediate care provision.

The consultation proposals aim to strengthen the health services used by most people – switching resources from bed-based hospital care to community-based care, so that the majority of support will be provided as close to home as possible, helping people to remain independent.

The consultation document and locality summary documents, including questionnaire, are available online at www.southdevonandtorbayccg.nhs.uk/community-health-services. Paper copies of the document will be available in local GP practices, and they can be requested by writing to the CCG at Pomona House, Oak View Close, Torquay TQ2 7FF, emailing [email protected] or calling 01803 652511 during office hours until the deadline on November 23. The questionnaire is online at www.communityconsultation.co.uk.