THE BATTLE to save Teignmouth Hospital appears to have been lost after an independent panel agreed consultations on its future were adequate.

The hospital, the first to have been purpose-built for the NHS in 1954, will now close with services moving to Dawlish Hospital and a new £8million well being health centre to be built on a site in Teignnmouth town centre.

The decision has come as a blow to campaigners who have spent more than six years fighting to save the Mill Lane building with thousands signing a petition in support.

Members of the Independent Reconfiguration Panel were called in to review the consultation carried out by the Clinical Commissioning Group after Devon County Council said it was unhappy with the procedure.

MP Anne Marie Morris, a long-time supporter of keeping the hospital open, said the decision was ‘not one I welcome’.

She said: ‘I remain very concerned that this decision is not in the best interests of Teignmouth residents given the lack of evidence that, following Covid, our local health system will have the capacity it needs and the lack of any evidence as to the adequacy of home-based care which it is argued satisfactorily replaces it.

‘My priority now must be not only to ensure the recommendations proposed are taken up but to hold the CCG to account for what it says it can and will deliver to the residents of Teignmouth.

‘Having been involved with this campaign since 2014, I commend the tireless determination of the local Teignmouth community, the League of Friends of Teignmouth Hospital and many other groups who have lobbied hard in our fight to save the hospital and ensure the provision of excellent healthcare.’

Health Secretary Sajiv Javid agreed to the request by Devon County Council’s health and care scrutiny board to have the decision reviewed by the panel of independent experts.

The IRP has since ruled that the CCG’s consultation was ‘adequate’ and compliant with the regulations.

However, it has said there are lessons to be learned and that the consultation was not of the standard if might have been in terms of communication with the public and openness and transparency of financial information.

It has recommended a joint review be undertaken by Devon Health and Care Scrutiny Committee and the CCG to consider how any future consultation might be undertaken should any further change to service provision be proposed in the area.

Ms Morris explained: ‘With regard to the future of health and care provision in the Teignmouth community the IRP has made a number of helpful recommendations to ensure the community is fully involved in the future of the Teignmouth Hospital site.

‘For me that has to mean full consideration is given to options of including the site in some form in the ongoing provision of care in the Teignmouth community.’

The key IRP recommendations are:

1. The NHS must engage the local community and interested parties, such as the local authority, in a programme to determine the future of the Teignmouth Community Hospital site. It is for Devon County Council Scrutiny Committee and NHS bodies to discuss how best to do this.

2. A specific time-limited standing group of stakeholders, including patient representatives, transport providers, and planning authorities, should be established to scope out the work for a proper travel plan for residents to access the reconfigured services in Dawlish, Newton Abbot and the district general hospitals in Exeter and Torbay.

3. The NHS must continue to scenario plan and regularly review the impact on beds and workforce following Covid.

4. Options should be explored to ensure mental health provision is included and properly provided for in the new model of care.

Ms Morris added: ‘While there is one more avenue of appeal - a judicial review of the process undertaken by the IRP in the High Court - that is eye-wateringly costly and without a good case to show that the IRP process was flawed, could not succeed.

‘I will be asking Healthwatch and Devon County Council to undertake full scrutiny of the quality and adequacy of home-based care.

‘I would also praise Devon County Council Health and Care Scrutiny Committee for calling this in to the Secretary of State and recognising the deficiencies in the process.

‘I have little doubt but that they will work with the Teignmouth community and the NHS to ensure these recommendations are implemented in full.’

Dr David Greenwell, clinical representative for the Southern Locality on the Governing Body of NHS Devon Clinical Commissioning Group, said: ‘We are pleased that the Independent Reconfiguration Panel found that the CCG has fulfilled its responsibilities and we accept the additional recommendations made by the panel.

‘The IRP noted that the CCG has carried out extensive engagement and consultation since 2013, and found that the future of Teignmouth Community Hospital under the proposal had been in plain sight for everyone and open for discussion with the NHS since 2018.

‘We believe this is the right outcome for the future of health and care services in Teignmouth and Dawlish and we will now continue our focus on investing in a new health and wellbeing centre in the heart of the town.

‘Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust is committed to continuing to engage with local people on both the development of the planned new health and wellbeing centre and the future of Teignmouth Community Hospital.’