THERE has been a lot of uncertainty in Devon in recent months over the Success Regime’s planned cuts to health services through its Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP).

A meeting was held in Holsworthy’s Memorial Hall on Wednesday, January 25, by Save Our Hospital Services (SOHS) to discuss the proposals and spread the message that North Devon District Hospital (NDDH) is under threat of such cuts and that the community, including residents of Holsworthy, need to get behind their cause to help protect the vital services acute units like NDDH in Barnstaple provide.

SOHS is a cross party group of people who are campaigning to save essential health services in Devon in light of the Success Regime’s STP proposals.

The meeting was well attended, with over 200 people filling the Memorial Hall. Lively, and at times heated, discussions were had between members of the public and SOHS campaigners. Attendees were told the outline risks to the NDDH and how those will affect them with regards to care — an open question time was then held so the public could share their concerns and seek answers.

Holsworthy’s mayor, Jon Hutchings, chaired the SOHS meeting and began by saying: “Whenever we in Holsworthy come together to discuss health it always gains a lot of interest — as you can see by the large number of you here this evening. Tonight you will hear about the Sustainability and Transformation Plan because it will concern everyone in this room.”

Two members of SOHS provided the audience with some information about their campaign, outlined what the Success Regime’s STP has set out and explained how cuts in the service ‘could result in increased mortality rates in Devon’.

The draft version of the STP said there are to be ‘no red lines’ when it comes to what can be cut. SOHS informed those present that all acute services provided at NDDH could be at risk of closure or downgrading — in response the group has set up its own ‘red line’ campaign, which people could sign up to and support during the meeting.

SOHS member and Great Torrington town councillor Ruth Funnell, gave the first presentation, she said: “It is great to see so many of you here. We came up with the ‘red line’ because the Success Regime kept saying they would have ‘no red line’ when it came to cuts. We held a short demonstration in Barnstaple last year where we got people from the community to join us and surround the hospital, whilst all wearing red — creating our own ‘red line’.”

There are now plans for another demonstration, like that seen in Barnstaple, to take place on April 1. People from Holsworthy and other towns in Devon are being urged by SOHS to surround their own local hospital — all wearing red — creating their own version of the Success Regime’s red line.

Cllr Funnell continued to give the audience a little background information about the Success regime, she said: “The Success Regime was set up two years ago and placed all Devon hospitals in what they called ‘special measures’. When it was set up we weren’t in a spending shortfall, but we are now. They are looking for ways to make our health services more ‘cost effective’, as they put it, but what they are really doing is looking for ways to make it cost less.”

Travel time to hospital services has been a hot topic in Holsworthy for sometime. The town’s rurality restricts them with regards to accessing acute care, with a journey needing to be undertaken to get to NDDH. Concerns were raised that should NDDH close, the closest acute hospital would be in Exeter — this increases journey times further.

Cllr Funnell said: “In North Devon it isn’t 10% of people who live one mile or more away from a hospital, according to NHS England it is close to 92% — that is not ok!”

This statement was met with much trepidation from the crowd.

NDDH is the most remote, full acute service hospital in England. If acute services were withdrawn from NDDH, its current catchment population would have the highest proportion of people who face a travel time of more than one hour to their nearest acute service hospital — for those in Holsworthy the nearest would be RD&E in Exeter.

The proportion given by NHS England who would need to travel more than an hour, if the NDDH’s current acute services were closed, is nearly 92%.

Cllr Funnell said there has been a lot of ‘smoke and mirrors’ and urged the public to remain vigilant. She added: “Last Friday [January 20] it was announced that Ashburton, Bovey Tracey, Paignton and Dartmouth hospitals are to close. You, in Holsworthy, were told you could keep 20 beds at your community hospital but sadly this seems to have been forgotten. I believe you have ten beds there, with a further four available in an emergency.

“Also, the doctor in charge at Holsworthy Hospital, who is set to leave, will not be replaced therefore you will be left with only out-of-hours available.”

Cllr Funnell then ‘passed the mic’ over to her fellow SOHS campaigner, Phillip Wearne, from Instow. Adding to what Cllr Funnell had explained, Phillip said: “I have to say a big thank you to all of you here for coming along. In 2015 you turned up in great numbers after the Success Regime announced the potential closure of community hospitals. You all came together then to fight it and that is what we need to do again now. I would say they are coming back for you, either this year or next!”

Phillip was once a deputy mortician at the old ‘North Devon Infirmary’, which previously stood in the place of NDDH. He said: “I do not want to go back to the standards of the North Devon Infirmary — let’s just say I was a deputy mortician and we knew why people were dying there.”

He explained that once the acute services review has been completed the STP would look towards making cuts to the five remaining areas at NDDH. Ear, Nose and Throat services were recently moved to RD&E and vascular services moved to Taunton.

The proposed changes will see NDDH’s stroke care and paediatrics moved to Plymouth and maternity to RD&E.

Phillip said there has been a staffing issue at the NDDH, he said: “We at SOHS are often accused of fear mongering but it is them, not us, who said there is no red line and that everything and anything could go.

“At the moment no one wants to come and work at NDDH because there is a ‘black cloud’ hanging over the hospital.

“We have a very low bed rate already, we lost 34 community beds last summer — 12 beds here and 12 in South Molton — they can’t keep taking our beds away!”

Cllr Funnell had previously explained some of the details to the plan that have rarely been spoken about in the past. She told those present of the plans to create 44 ‘footprints’ with each footprint only having two acute services — currently Devon has four; Royal Devon and Exeter (RD&E), Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, Torbay Hospital and NDDH.

Cllr Funnell said: “The leaking of the STP last year — or as we have been calling it the ‘slash, trash and privatise’ plan — galvanised everyone against the cuts. It sets out the number of beds that are to be closed and spoke of the downgrading of acute services, which are provided at NDDH. These include A&E, stroke units, paediatrics, special care baby units and consultant-led maternity unit.”

During his talk, Phillip added to what Cllr Funnell had said previously, explaining in more detail how this would affect the people in the room, he said: “Out of Exeter, Plymouth Torbay and NDDH, who do you think is most likely to be cut? It will be the one at the extremity, the one with the black cloud, the one on the very edge of clinical viability.

“The process of agreeing the STP proposals was flawed, I would even go so far as to say fraudulent! They suggest that there will be access to healthcare ‘somewhere else’ — like Exeter or Plymouth — but access somewhere else is not better for you!

“I don’t need to tell you about the crisis with the ambulances getting to rural places like you. We have the remotest acute services in England and if services are moved to Exeter it will take people more than the ‘golden hour’ to make it to a hospital — will this have an effect on mortality rates? Yes I think so!

“Ultimately, we need to stand up for our health service. As Gandhi once said ‘we all need to be the change we want to see’, well in this case I would say we all need to be the fight to save our lives!”

The floor was then opened up for questions from the audience.

Among those first to speak was a mother from Bideford, who wanted to tackle the issue of overcrowding in the hospitals and what effect that will have on the general population, she said: “I have a daughter with epilepsy, sometimes it can become quite severe and she stops breathing. Barnstaple’s children’s ward is already normally full, if she makes it to Exeter will there be a bed for her?

“Bristol is often full too, are there enough beds, and how will they cope if NDDH is closed?”

Phillip responded: “We don’t have enough beds, that is the problem. People say that beds don’t matter, they do matter, they really matter!”

Cllr Funnell linked the reduction of beds to the latest proposal for ‘care closer to home’, she said: “The problem with care closer to home is, how are they going to provide us with that care if they close all our local hospitals?”

When asked if the CQC has anything to say on care in Devon, Cllr Funnell added: “They do for at home, nursing home and residential care. But what we don’t want to happen is get to a point where hospitals are closed, with people instead being cared for and treated at home, for the CQC to then turn around and say it isn’t working — by that point our beds will have gone and it will be too late.”

The topic of student nurses was raised by one Holsworthy resident, she said: “Five years ago there were about 140 student nurses who graduated from a nursing degree — of those only four decided to stay in the Westcountry. My question is are those current medical students now wasting their time?”

It was not decided during the meeting whether student nurses are currently ‘wasting their time’ but Phillip linked this topic back to the ‘black cloud’ that was said to be hanging over NDDH, he added: “No one wants to come and work at these hospitals when their future is so uncertain.”

A young girl from Holsworthy, who is currently running for the youth parliament, asked: “How far will this government go to save money?”

Another, from Clawton, added: “Is the Success Regime planning cuts to the management of the NHS to save money?”

Cllr Funnell explained: “It is hard to say. It seems they are looking to cut corporation tax but not looking to me like they are doing what they need to be doing, which is to raise taxes.

“People were asked if they were happy to pay an extra ‘tuppence’ on council tax if it went straight on the health service — I daren’t ask, but I will, how many of you would be happy to pay an extra tuppence on your council tax for the health service?”

The answer from the 200-strong crowd was a resounding ‘yes’.

Speaking at the meeting Torridge District Councillor for the Conham Bridge Ward (Cons) Phillip Hackett said he had had some experience with NDDH and ‘couldn’t fault them for the service they provided him’, however, he informed the meeting of the problems experienced by the ambulance service and how an increase in patient numbers would only cause more problems, he said: “I broke my knee and went to NDDH. If it were closed I would have had to go to Exeter. Well, the ambulance that brought me to Barnstaple was called out immediately to another incident. What struck me in that moment was, if I had been taken to Exeter I would have still been in transit when that second call came in. If I had been taken to Exeter that other person could have died — if these services are cut people will die!”

Cllr Hackett then posed his own questions to the meeting, he said: “What businessman is going to invest in Devon when they know their workforce won’t have easy access to good medical care? What I also recently found out is that hospitals pay business rates — how silly is that?”

Other comments made during the evening included; ‘why aren’t the NHS stopping health tourism’, ‘how many people would be forced to go to Exeter, have they considered the influx of people’ and ‘the population in the South West swells by more than 30% during summer, has that been taken into account too?’

But the comment that resonated most with the audience was: “The people who basically fought in the war and helped to set up the NHS, we are betraying them! We are betraying those who created this system for our future generations. We need to come together to tackle this!”

During the meeting Devon County Councillor Barry Parsons (Cons) spoke up to reassure the public that there was a presence at County Hall in favour of keeping the local hospital services. He said: “This is a very studious matter and what I think is the biggest challenge we have faced in a very long time.

“I give you my assurance that there is a presence at County Hall and Cllr Hackett is able to take your comments through at a district level.

“We really fought for our community beds in Holsworthy, we marched through the streets and came together like we are now. I believe Holsworthy Hospital is a hospital worth fighting for, as is NDDH.

“There seems to be a perception out there that ‘Devon is well off’, well we’re not! The problem for Devon is that it is a very different place wherever you go across the county, nowhere else has needs that differ as greatly as ours. We are different from Exeter, we are different from Torbay, we are very, very different from the likes of Plymouth — our needs should not be based on what works for the rest of the country.

“It is really a case of putting the cart before the horse. If we are talking about taking the hospital services away before we have anything else in their place then we are in a very bad place indeed.

“People come together in this locality, that is what it is all about and that is what we are going to have to do to again to tackle this!”

Everyone present at the meeting agreed they would come together to help tackle the situation and called for action against the STP proposals and SOHS campaigners reassured them that they were working towards change.

It was announced at the meeting that, in response to local demand for action against the Success Regime’s STP, a rally will be held in London on Saturday, March 4, outside the Houses of Parliament, to demonstrate to party leaders the local feeling toward the proposed cuts to North Devon’s acute hospital services.

A man from Newton St Petrock asked: “There is a coach going down to parliament on March 4, however, are appointments being made with the MPs, like Mr [Geoffrey] Cox, to meet with us and discuss this matter?

“We need a plan going forward, you raised the situation as it is but South Devon is pretty much gone now and if you don’t have a physical presence against these people the same thing will happen in North Devon. You are really up against a mountain! So my question is, are we going to meet them [MPs] face-to-face?”

Cllr Funnell responded to these comments, she said: “If we want our health service we have to fight — we need to lobby our MPs you are right, but as the march is on Saturday that won’t happen as none of them will be there. But we would encourage you to ask for surgery places with MP Geoffrey Cox. What he says sounds positive but he isn’t doing a lot. We should block his surgeries up so that he has to offer more”

One resident of Clawton disagreed strongly with the suggestion to block Mr Cox’s surgeries, he said: “I disagree with your suggestion to advocate blocking up Geoffrey’s surgeries. They are for constituents, he gives his time freely and I think it is wrong for you to say we should swamp his surgeries because they are for his constituents.”

Mayor, Cllr Hutchings, said: “The surgeries are for everyone not just constituents. I think the more people who go along and ask for a place in his surgeries, the more he will have to provide!”

A Pyworthy man added: “Geoffrey Cox wrote to me. I have made it very clear to him that it is unacceptable to remove hospital beds. I would urge you all to write to him and let him know your thoughts and feelings to reinforce this message!”

Cllr Hackett, added: “We, the district councillors, are Geoffrey’s ‘eyes and ears’ as it were — I can reassure you I will be reporting back to him after this meeting to discuss all the concerns raised!”

After the SOHS meeting and in response to what was said, Mr Cox told the Post: “Over many years now, I have been vigilant and robust in defending our rural services and you can be sure that I am on guard to protect our community against any deterioration in the health services available to us. I have been regularly meeting with senior health officials both locally and in the Department of Health to monitor closely and influence the development of their thinking with regards to the North Devon District Hospital.

“In addition, I am in close touch with ministers, including the Secretary of State, whom I am meeting again shortly to discuss NDDH, placing maximum pressure on the Government to understand the particular problems of providing acute health services in a remote rural area such as ours.

“Although there is a need for vigilance, I am afraid to say that there are many scare stories being spread about that are simply not helpful. It is the duty of those who have the real interests of our community at heart not to frighten local people with exaggerated rumours that may have a deep effect on the elderly and vulnerable or to use those rumours for political ends.

“I have been engaged with this process from the start, doing real work behind the scenes, in quiet persuasion and dialogue with the local Health Authorities and with Ministers, to protect the quality of our health services and when it is necessary to speak out clearly in parliament I do. Those who wish to see what it is I am saying to the Government can go to www.geoffreycox.co.uk/content/geoffrey-cox-calls-fair-funding-rural-health-special-parliamentary-debate.”

After the meeting the Post contacted Dr Alison Diamond, chief executive for Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust, who said: “We are extremely grateful for the continued support of our local community, and it is important for our staff to know that the work they do is valued.

“Currently, no decisions have been made in relation to any services at North Devon District Hospital and there are no proposed changes on the table, as part of the Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP).

“At the moment, clinicians, including many from North Devon, and patient representatives are coming together to talk about what future acute services could look like. We will soon be coming out to talk to people about the criteria we will be using when developing options for change, and these include access to services and travel times.

“We are unlikely to know the outcome of this review before the summer, and if the proposals need consultation, local people will have the opportunity to express their views.”

The SOHS campaign group will be holding a number of demonstrations in the coming months. On March 4, a rally will march from Tavistock Square at noon through central London to Parliament Square.

A coach will leave North Devon early that morning. For more information contact Dave Clinch on 0787624938.

On Saturday, April 1, the SOHS group will create their own ‘red line’ around local hospitals.

To join the campaign and for more information about SOHS North Devon visit www.sohs.org.uk

l What are your views? Email [email protected]