Fate of first purpose built NHS hospital decided

The fate of the first purpose built NHS hospital, Teignmouth community hospital, it seems has finally been decided, it is set to close and services moved elsewhere, following a review by an independent panel.

Services will be moved to Dawlish hospital, which remains partly closed due to covid related staffing issues, and a new £8 million health centre, to be built in the town.

However, the beds the hospital used to have will be lost for good, due to the closure.

The decision to close comes despite fierce opposition by the local community, thousands signed a petition to keep the community hospital open.

This continues a trend of removing NHS services from towns across South Devon. Dartmouth hospital has also closed and minor injury units in Dawlish and Totnes are still closed due to pandemic related staffing issues, with no reopening in sight. The closure of community hospitals is putting more and more pressure on an already overwhelmed system.

Local NHS services are facing chronic underfunding, which is putting lives at risk.

Closure of community based hospitals is putting extra pressure on larger hospitals such as Torbay. A recent Care Quality Commission (CQC) reported that some wards in Torbay hospital didn’t have enough staff to meet the needs of patients.

Back in December there were reports of 22 ambulances queuing at the hospital with patients waiting to be treated.

This has also been caused by understaffing of the A&E department in the hospital. These staff shortages have been worsened by the pandemic, but not caused by it. There was an estimated shortage of 50,000 nurses pre pandemic.

Due to years of underfunding the NHS combined with the pandemic and staff shortages, it is taking a lot longer for many to receive the treatment they need.

Much of the routine and elective surgery undertaken by the NHS was postponed as priorities changed because of the pandemic. Some faced long waits for treatment even before the pandemic. Some are facing such long waits for treatment that they may turn to private healthcare, if they can afford it. Or even travelling to other parts of the country that have shorter wait times for surgery.

The closure of community hospitals needs to be reversed, beds losts in community hospitals need to be reinstated.

The NHS is struggling to recruit the staff needed to maintain all services, partly due to less health workers from abroad coming to the UK. But also because the bursary which paid tuition fees for nursing degrees was scrapped in 2015, whilst bursaries have been reintroduced they are not the same as previously.

The scrapping of these bursaries means many young people may have chosen different career paths because of this. The NHS is something which we treasure as a society, but it has faced chronic underfunding and is now at breaking point.

NHS trusts need to be given the money they need to provide all the services communities need safely.