‘A VINDICATION of years of hard work’ was the verdict of campaigners fighting to save Teignmouth Hospital from the threat of closure.

They were reacting to news that Sajid Javid, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has referred the possible closure of the town’s cherished hospital to the Independent Reconfiguration Panel (IRP).

;We were all delighted to hear the good news,’ said Geralyn Arthurs of ‘Hands Off Teignmouth Hospital.’

‘It is a vindication that all our hard work over several years of campaigning to save our community hospital has been rewarded and that the arguments from both sides will be thoroughly investigated.

‘The Covid pandemic and the continued backlog of NHS appointments has made it even more important to save community hospitals.

‘We are hoping that the IRP will recommend that Teignmouth Hospital has to be retained with its numerous outpatient clinics and minor operations theatre, and that the urgently needed inpatient beds are reinstated promptly.

‘We consider that our research has shown that that this will assist in alleviating the pressure on our district general hospitals by preventing the number of admissions to their A&Es and reducing the NHS ‘bed-blocking’.

‘We have already proved that the Devon Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) did not show a cost benefit to closing the hospital or that services would be improved by more ‘Care in the Home’ and building an £8 million Health and Wellbeing Centre.

‘We are hoping that with the current health crisis the IRP will recommend that it is logical that local resources should be used for patient rehabilitation and medical treatment and stress the value of community hospitals.

‘Although Teignmouth Hospital needs to be updated the cost of reconfiguration and refurbishment is significantly less than the proposed Brunswick Street development.

‘This substantial saving would be of great value to our local NHS to invest in more services for the local community. The grounds at Teignmouth Hospital would enable this.

‘The advantage of retaining our hospital is that unlike the CCG’s proposal Teignmouth Hospital has its own parking facilities and a bus stop outside the main entrance.

‘This is especially important for the elderly and those with mobility issues as it enables them to have easy access to medical treatment while ensuring that they do not have to endure long and expensive journeys.

‘It is an absolute necessity that the community has a fully functioning hospital. With an increasing population of ‘All Ages’ and the unknown medical outcome of long-Covid Teignmouth Hospital is needed even more than in the past. The NHS should be preserving and upgrading its assists to enable ‘futureproofing’ for the locality.

‘We hope that the Secretary of State decrees that there is no necessity to rerun the consultation process, wasting even more money, but that Teignmouth Hospital will be allowed to survive and thrive with doctors from the Community Hospital Association caring out medical research on the outcomes of inpatient beds and assessing the impact on rehabilitation for those suffering from long-Covid and other medical complaints which is delivered by our wonderful physiotherapy unit.’

We look forward to working with IRP

Following news of the referral to the Independent Reconfiguration Panel, a spokesperson for NHS Devon Clinical Commissioning Group said: ‘We’re aware of the referral to the Independent Reconfiguration Panel (IRP). We look forward to working with the IRP as they gather the information they need to make their recommendation to the Secretary of State.’

In March 2021, Devon County Council’s Health and Adult Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee passed a motion saying: ‘The actions of the NHS Devon Clinical Commissioning Group to remove services from Teignmouth Community Hospital when the (Health and Wellbeing) Hub is ready for use will result in the Hospital becoming an empty building.

‘Teignmouth Community Hospital sits within the Torbay and South Devon Foundation Trust estate.

‘No consultation has taken place by the Trust with Teignmouth residents on the future of the hospital.

‘Therefore as no consultation process has been undertaken or even suggested by the trust with respect to the future of the hospital we would like to refer this part of substantial change to the Secretary of State on the grounds that Scrutiny: is not satisfied with the adequacy the consultation and Scrutiny has not been consulted, and it is not satisfied that the reasons given for not carrying out consultation are adequate.’