'Closure by stealth' of Teignmouth must be paused, MP tells Parliament
"Teignmouth Hospital and its residents deserve better" - that was the message delivered to Parliament late yesterday as the local MP urged ministers to intervene and stop the planned closure of the facility.
Last updated 10th Mar 2021
The debate, which you can watch in full here, took place as NHS bosses submit plans for a new £8 million health and wellbeing centre in the town - which could open by 2022.
Local MP Anne Marie Morris told MPs she wanted to keep the existing hospital open until after the new centre has opened - and then a review has taken place of all local facilities combined.
She told the committee the hospital was being closed by 'stealth' and worried the new health and wellbeing centre did not offer the same range of services, failed to offer 12 rehabilitation beds and required patients to travel to Dawlish hospital in certain cases.
The MP said: ""The way forward, it seems to me, because we have two years during which the hub is going to be built. First of all let's collect that missing data.
"Let's collect that data for 2020/2021. Lets look properly at bed occupancy and why it is as it is.
"Let's look at discharge, let's look at readmissions. Let's look at waiting lists. Let's look particularly at the impact of Long Covid which we will see in the period on rehabilitation care and the growing need.
"Let's also undertake some research into the quality and quantity of home-based care because there is no evidence on either of these in anything which has been presented by the clinical commissioning group.
"Worse there is nothing on the patient experience at all."
Plans for Teignmouth’s new health and wellbeing centre, which are part of a town centre regeneration project, have been submitted.
The new £8million Health and Wellbeing Centre is to be built by Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust in the heart of Teignmouth and is due to open in 2022, subject to planning permission.
The South Devon Health Innovations Partnership have put forward the formal planning application for the scheme which would see the demolition of redundant building on Brunswick Street and a new health centre built in its place.
The Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust propose to re-provide and co-locate a number of health services at the site, and centre will accommodate two GP surgeries (Channel View Medial Practice and Teignmouth Medical Group) together with community nurses, therapists and lifestyles and prevention services as well as voluntary services and a pharmacy.
The inclusion of an on-site pharmacy is important since it allows GPs to liaise with the pharmacist easily and directly about the best drugs regime for patients and it provides patients with a one-stop shop alongside consultation and treatment, a statement with the application submitted to Teignbridge District Council planners this week says.
It adds: “The decision to propose a health and care centre of this type at Brunswick Street has been made by the NHS Trust and the GP practices involved. This decision has been made due to the overriding benefits this facility will provide, foremost in terms of health and wellbeing.
“The centre will provide sufficient GP capacity for both current and known future demand, taking into account proposed developments within the Teignmouth area and around Bishopsteignton. The integrated facility and town centre location will allow the GP practices to share resources and improve their appeal to prospective staff.
“Interdisciplinary working delivers significant clinical efficiencies to all of the different users within the building, as well as training benefits and a town-centre location has overriding benefits for patients as the services will be located nearest to the population that needs it, and easily accessible on foot, or from elsewhere by public transport.”
The building will include 25 specialist consulting rooms, six healthcare assistant rooms, seven specialist treatment spaces, musculoskeletal assessment, an audiology room, a podiatry room, as well as space for Volunteering in Health, the integrated pharmacy, a main reception space, four waiting areas and admin, office, staff hub and interview spaces.
The statement adds: “There is a clear overriding need for regeneration at the site. Regenerating this part of the town centre is important and will deliver numerous benefits. The site has been identified for a number of years and this opportunity this application presents should be supported and its delivery encouraged so that the benefits can be realised sooner rather than later.
“Furthermore, retail/commercial premises are facing difficult times and town centres are changing, therefore, getting people into the town centre is vital moving forward. This type of development can help drive the wider regeneration of the town centre by acting as a flagship development that provides a catalyst for further renewal.
“There is also now the opportunity to secure the regeneration of this site alongside the proposed hotel on the adjacent land to the south. The Council need to be positive and focus on encouraging this investment and development for benefit of the town.
“It is clear that the public benefits are significant and weigh heavily in favour of the proposed development. There are benefits for both patients and the wider public and there will be direct and indirect benefits.”
Teignbridge District Council planners will determine the fate of the application at a later date.
Some of the services proposed for the new health and wellbeing centre are set to be transferred from Teignmouth Hospital, for which the Devon CCG in December 2020 gave approval for, although councillors subsequently asked independent experts to look again at the decision.
For more about the closure plans and the campaign to save the hospital site click here
For more about challenges to the closure process click here
For more about the consultation and reasons behind it click here
For more about the new health and wellbeing centre click here