‘STAND up and be counted’ is the message from a semi-retired GP who is fighting to keep beds open at Holsworthy Community Hospital.
David Hillebrandt from Holsworthy is urging residents to make their views known in the public consultation to decide where hospital beds should be located in Northern Devon.
North Devon Healthcare Trust announced its options for public consultation this week.
The options are:
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l two community hospital sites, any two out of Bideford, Holsworthy, Ilfracombe and South Molton
l one site at North Devon District Hospital (NDDH)
l one site at NDDH and one at a community hospital site.
Dr Hillebrandt, a former inpatient at Holsworthy Hospital, says ‘community beds must be based in the community they are serving’. He spent last Wednesday raising awareness of the Trust’s plans by distributing information around the town and agri-business centre.
Dr Hillebrandt said: “Apparently under one option a ward may open in North Devon District Hospital to offer beds to those who would previously have been nursed in their local community hospital.
“Making the round trip of over 70 miles from Holsworthy by bus to visit a sick or dying relative in Barnstaple is virtually impossible, even for a fit person.
“This news is particularly devastating for the people of Holsworthy who have worked hard to raise funds to build a new state of the art hospice outreach unit next to our community hospital. The hospice day unit is due to open in the near future. It had originally been envisaged to offer day facilities but the visiting staff would have been available to visit terminally ill inpatients in Holsworthy Community Hospital to offer advice on care and treatment.
“I can’t change the Trust’s mind, but what I can do is make the people of Holsworthy aware that their community hospital is under imminent risk of permanent closure. It is up to them to make their voices heard on behalf of their whole community.
“People can sit down and let it happen or we can stand up and be counted.”
Former matron at Holsworthy Hospital and current patient Liz Jones from Ashwater, said it would be a ‘great sin’ if the beds were to be relocated.
She told the Post: “I started here as a modern matron in 2008 and prior to that I was a district nurse for 30 years in the Holsworthy area, working very closely with all the GPs.
“We are such a rural area, a long way from the acute hospitals, and Holsworthy needs to be used as the resource it is. The league of friends have spent thousands and thousands on equipment for the hospital.”
For the full report, and a round-up of the area news and sport, see this week’s edition of the Post.