NEWTON Abbot town councillors have warned the Devon Primary Care Trust that it has a long way to go before it gains their trust. They told chief executive Dr Kenneth Snee on Wednesday that while the 'doctor has a wonderful bedside manner, the patients are not convinced'. Dr Snee attended the council to discuss the trust's projected overspend and the recovery plan it has put into place. But councillors were concerned about cuts, worrying that services at the new multi-million pound hospital at Jetty Marsh will be changed or watered down. 'We hold the hospital in high regard and would like assurance that what is built will be similar or larger than what was promised,' said mayor Cllr Daphne Watts. Cllr Ken Lewis added that Newton Abbot was proud of the proposed stroke unit and there would be upset if too many changes were made. Dr Snee said the plans still had to be signed off and he could not guarantee there would not be any significant changes. 'It is out of my hands, but I am fully in support of the new hospital and community stroke service.' he said. He was also quizzed by Cllr Keith Smith as to how he planned to gain the backing from those who felt uncertain about the new merger of the primary care trusts into one county body and loss of services. Dr Snee defended the cuts, saying he believed the new service would allow him to have more resources under his control. 'The doctor has a wonderful bedside manner but the patients are not convinced.' said Cllr Smith. Dr Snee said: 'The Trust has drawn up a recovery plan which it is hoped will deliver a saving of £14.43 million by the end of the financial year.' The plan aims to review services and localise them as much as possible to keep costs down. 'Since November when we came into power it was clear there were larger financial problems than had previously been identified. The projected overspend of the Devon PCT before recovery action is £22.3 million. The £2.143 million overspend by Teignbridge is significant, but as a percentage not huge and we should be able to sort it out.' he said. Dr Snee said that an undelivered reduction in acute demand, which accounts for £6.2 million of the overspend, was one of the key areas they would be looking to rectify. 'Some hospitals are seeing far too many people who could be seen by their local GP's. We need to reduce the pressure on hospitals, the benefits of doing this have previously been underestimated.' He countered that the cuts and closures had opened up an opportunity to improve and develop facilities, 'I know there are a lot of concerns, particularly over the closure of beds and shorter opening hours, but this is not a long term plan. We can find out what changes need to be made and improve the facilities once they re-open. From March I'd like to start a wide consultation to get a sense of how Devon wants to take their service forward.'
