DEVON County Councillors at a meeting last week agreed to ask Northern Devon Healthcare Trust to halt its consultation over community hospital beds.

The motion was put forward at the Health and Wellbeing Scrutiny committee and it was resolved to ask the trust to halt the consultation to enable the opportunity for the NHS Northern, Eastern and Western Devon Clinical Commissioning Group (NHS NEW Devon CCG) and the trust to provide the Northern Devon community with a jointly agreed consultation platform.

The six-week consultation — entitled ‘Delivering safe and effective care within the budget’ — runs until Tuesday (September 29).

The options for the location of community beds are:

— Two community hospital sites — any two out of Bideford, Holsworthy, Ilfracombe and South Molton

— One site at North Devon District Hospital (NDDH)

— One site at NDDH and one at a community hospital site.

The Post last month reported how the consultation originally involved the NHS NEW Devon CCG, before the CCG decided to withdraw.

Responding to the motion, Dr Alison Diamond, chief executive of Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust, said: “The Devon Health and Wellbeing scrutiny committee acknowledged that it was not in its terms of reference to require us to halt the consultation.

“As an NHS provider with a statutory duty to deliver safe and effective care within our budget, delaying our consultation would jeopardise this outcome: patient care would be less resilient ahead of winter and it risks making Devon’s financial position even worse.

“However, we appreciate the sentiment behind the motion and acknowledge that this is a difficult, emotive consultation.”

The motion was passed by a narrow margin — three for and three against — with the chair taking the deciding vote.

Dr Diamond added: “We would also like to thank the three councillors who spoke at the meeting for their input into the consultation.

“The councillors raised many valid points, the majority of which echo with the consultation feedback contained in the 400-plus responses we’ve received so far, and we are encouraged that they felt able to base their comments on the decision-making criteria of the consultation.

“While we appreciate constructive criticism about our engagement processes, councillors were unable to present any evidence that our consultation process was flawed and therefore it will continue.

“We are working with our clinicians regarding the additional community services that would be needed for each consultation option, to ensure that any changes are safely implemented before winter.

“We respect the decision by NEW Devon CCG to separate its Care Closer to Home consultation from ours, due to the differing timescales. We welcome the CCG’s contribution to our consultation and we will continue to liaise with the CCG on the implementation plans, as previously stated in the media and confirmed at the Scrutiny meeting.”

THE Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust is encouraging more people to take part in its public consultation on the future location of community beds.

Dr Diamond said: “Around 1,000 people attended our public meetings in Ilfracombe, Holsworthy, South Molton, Bideford, Hatherleigh, Lynton and Barnstaple, which is a sign of the passion residents feel for their local community hospitals.

“So far more than 300 people have told us their preferred option for the location of community beds via the consultation document, our online feedback form or by contacting us direct.

“This suggests that people are not encountering any obstacle in contributing their views and that they understand how to apply the decision-making criteria within the consultation.

“With the consultation ending in two weeks’ time, we are keen to encourage more people to get involved and help us make the best decision for the local community.”

There are a number of ways for people to take part:

— Complete the online feedback form on the Trust website at northdevonhealth.nhs.uk/consultnorth

— Download the consultation document on the Trust website at northdevonhealth.nhs.uk/consultnorth and post the enclosed feedback form to Communications Team, Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust, Raleigh Park, Barnstaple, Devon, EX31 4JB

— Write to Dr Alison Diamond, Chief Executive, Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust, Raleigh Park, Barnstaple, Devon, EX31 4JB

— Email at [email protected]

— Call 01271 322460

— Invite the NDHT to a meeting, if you are part of a group or organisation. For more information, call Nellie Guttmann on 01271 313971 or email [email protected]