'It's time to come together and save our hospital', say campaigners
They've been reacting to the news that a new smaller GP-led health centre will not be built in the town to replace it
Last updated 23rd Jul 2024
Campaigners are calling for Teignmouth Hospital to be saved and the NHS to consider moving GP surgeries onto the site - which was the first cottage hospital built by the NHS.
This week NHS bosses will formally vote to pause plans to build a new town centre GP-led health centre, saying delays - partly due to opposition from campaigners - have pushed up the cost from ÂŁ8 million to ÂŁ19 million.
Campaigners, who've spent years calling for the town's hospital to remain open, say it's time the community came together and agreed a joint plan for local healthcare services instead.
Councillor David Cox, who repeatedly voted to ask the former Government to intervene as part of the Devon County Council health scrutiny committee, said: "I hope that we can work together as a community.
"We need local government, the voluntary sector, the league of friends to work out Teignmouth's health needs.
"We have always maintained that Teignmouth Hospital needs to be maintained, it will change, it will be different to what it was."
A spokesperson for the NHS in Devon said: "Since 2020, the project has been beset by a series of challenges – including the NHS having to refocus efforts on the pandemic response, a complex planning process and the effect of statutory scrutiny work by a Devon County Council committee."
The board will meet on Thursday where it will recommend that 'ÂŁ9 million of limited capital resources designated for urgent remedial work across the NHS estate in Devon are not diverted to the Teignmouth Health and Wellbeing Centre', adding: "The capital pot is already inadequate to cover the cost of high priority schemes and essential remedial works across the ageing NHS estate in Devon."
A Day later South Devon's NHS board will meet to discuss the situation. The spokesperson added: "If members of the Boards approve the recommendations, it will bring an end to the Teignmouth Health and Wellbeing Centre project in its current form. Importantly, it will also allow the NHS to fast-track work to support Channel View Medical Group, which was due to relocate from its two town centre bases into the new building. A solution is needed as the lease on one of Channel View’s sites – in the Den Crescent – ends on 31 March 2025."
Steve Moore, Chief Executive Officer of NHS Devon, who took on the role in February 2024, said: “I want to say sorry to people in Teignmouth and especially the patients and staff of Channel View Medical Group, who were looking forward to the opening of the new health and wellbeing centre.
“We have a legal duty to ensure local people have access to general practice services and I can reassure you that we are absolutely committed to finding a sustainable solution and creating a brighter future for primary care in Teignmouth.”
The plan was for Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust to take a head lease on the health and wellbeing centre from the developer and pay rent while sub-letting the majority of the building to the GP practice.
TSDFT Chief Executive Liz Davenport said: “We’re very sorry that the scheme now looks unlikely to proceed after so much work has gone into it. We were confident it could be delivered but the project has faced procedural and financial obstacles at every turn and, combined, they now look insurmountable.
“We will continue to provide local services in Teignmouth from our existing buildings until sustainable alternatives are found.”