'Hospital beds will not close without a good service in place - no decision has been reached over a permanent closure' meeting told

AN assurance was given more than 60 people at a public meeting at Crediton that its hospital beds would not close without there being a good service in place for people to be treated in their homes, nor had any decision been made over a permanent closure of beds.

Dr David Jenner, chairman of the Eastern Locality of NEW Devon CCG and a GP in Cullompton was speaking with Dr Joe Mays of Crediton, executive GP NEW Devon CCG, at the two-hour meeting in the Boniface Centre last Wednesday.

People were told that the current consultation would end on December 12 and that the CCG wanted to explain to people the reasoning for its proposals.

Dr Jenner said the CCG would take into account what Crediton people said as part of the consultation which ends on December 12.

HEALTH AND

WELLBEING HUB

People could feed back via the CCG website, forms were available at the meeting as well as a list of what Crediton hospital currently provides and what other services could be provided if it became a health and wellbeing hub.

Also present were people from Torrington, handing out leaflets about "The Great Torrington Experience" saying that the "Care Closer to Home" scheme had "been a disaster and failed in every respect."

Dr Mays said his role included being an advocate for patients in Mid Devon at the CCG which has responsibility for buying services for just under 400,000 people.

He said it was doing its best to "even out services" while appreciating the very rural area.

It was was looking at putting in a health and social care hub at Moretonhampstead Hospital which no longer had any in-patient beds.

Part of the CCG vision and priorities was to work in collaboration with the community and voluntary services and to have a greater focus on health prevention.

There would be no significant bed reduction until the CCG was confident in the short term that it could provide better levels of care in peoples' homes.

The CCG needed to be sure it got the care in people's homes right.

The CCG was planning to increase the number of minor injury units and would continue to have this delivered at Okehampton with an urgent care service at Tiverton.

CONSULTATION

The CCG was consulting with the Stroke Association on stroke services.

When a member of the public asked what evidence was there that this had been developed through engagement with the public rather than fitting quite neatly into what the CCG wanted to achieve, Dr Jenner replied that it had come from feed back from public meetings such as had been held in Crediton last summer which was on its website.

Nick Way, local county, district and town councillor, said Crediton Hospital had been built in 1988 for local people with consultants visiting once a week.

He said there were big problems in this area over transport with family and friends visiting patients in hospitals outside Crediton. This brought many nods of approval from the audience.

TRANSPORT ISSUES

Transport problems were cited many times through the evening.

Cllr Way asked if the CCG had looked at this issue seriously. He thought this was one of its weak points and received a round of applause.

When Dr Mays said Crediton Hospital had been built for long-stay geriatric patients he was told that was wrong - it was built as a GP-based hospital.

Dr Mays said that although it had been a 24-bed hospital, it had been 12 beds for the past "couple of years."

Dr Jenner said the CCG recognised the transport problems in Mid Devon; it was important to remember this was not talking about closing Crediton Hospital, but not having in-patient medical beds.

He said that over the past few years the number of medical beds had dropped from five to three. There were difficult decisions to be made.

With the stroke services the CCG was looking to make sure no-one was moved further away from their homes.

Dr Jenner added that having considered the number of people affected, and distances, the CCG had come up with a proposal to rationalise.

APPLAUSE

When a member of the public said that visiting someone in hospital in Tiverton could mean taking time off work and mentioned the fuel spent, there was applause.

Dr Mays said that as a local GP he would like to see people cared for in their local hospital. He was sure GPs in other areas where it looked as if beds would go felt the same.

"We really are trying to make sure we continue to keep as much care in Crediton as possible," he said adding that evidence showed that two out of every five patients in a community hospital could be cared for at home or in a nursing home.

Another person said she did not understand how with the driving between people's homes, caring for them could work.

BED-BLOCKING

There was applause when another member of the public spoke about bed-blocking at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital when there was another hospital with 24 beds only 20 minutes away at Crediton. When not use that to help Exeter?

Dr Jenner said the RD and E had said it could not send people to Crediton because there was not enough staff and it could not recruit more.

He said there was a problem recruiting enough staff to provide health and care at home. The CCG did not want to reduce beds until it was sure the services were in place.

"This is why we are not proposing an overall reduction in Eastern Locality at present," he said.

One person took up the issue of not being able to get staff and said that staff at Crediton had been told the hospital was closing. They wanted jobs with security, this was applauded.

Dr Jenner explained that the Northern Devon Health Care Trust dealt with staffing, not the CCG and the CCG had not said the hospital was closing.

"Yes, we have a difficult decision about rationalising beds, we are hearing your concerns," said Dr Jenner.

A member of the public said they got the feeling that people in Crediton wanted in-patient beds at Crediton Hospital. This brought cries of "Yes" and applause.

The person said the hospital used to be a wonderful asset to the town when all the beds were in use.

When people came back to Crediton Hospital, they felt as if they were on the way home. This person could not understand why staff could not be found.

Another member of the public said you cannot get staff with the threat hanging over hospitals such as Torrington and Crediton.

For people in Crediton to get to the hospitals in Tiverton or Okehampton was a long way, particularly if they had to use public transport. Visiting someone in South Molton could mean a total of five hours on different buses, having to go via Exeter.

BALANCE THE BOOKS

Dr Jenner said he had a legal duty to balance the books because the CCG was £27 million in debt.

Another person asked about the petition that had been signed by 3,000 people in Crediton.

Dr Jenner said the decision had not been made about permanent loss of in-patient beds at Crediton.

He said the Northern Devon Trust was making some temporary arrangement from November 1 but it was not something the CCG had agreed in any way.

"This is what makes it so difficult because we are consulting on the background of this happening and this is not what we would desire," said Dr Jenner.

Dr Mays said he shared people's concerns about geography and the challenges this rural area faced.

He said it was highly unlikely anyone would wish to close the hospital building.

Dr Jenner said the CCG understood it was easier for people to get to Exeter than Tiverton or Okehampton.

"We have got that, we understand that."

DECEMBER 12

Dr Mays said that although the proposal was to close beds at Crediton, no decision would be made until after the end of the consultation period on December 12. It was not possible to give a date for when a decision would be made because of the need to go through the feed back.

Dr Jenner said the proposal was being made in the light of the financial situation and in "moving time lines" when things could change with a general election next spring. "We have to work where we are now," he said. He emphasised that the GPs had said do not change until you have something in place.

When someone said the doctors had said the CCG was not there to close hospitals but surely the in-patient beds were the hospital, there was applause.

Other people cited instances of care at home when a person on their own had to wait until mid-morning for a cup of tea and carers could only give 15 minutes, Dr Jenner said if someone needed 24 hour care at home they could be better provided for in hospital or nursing home.

NOVEMBER 1

Dr Mays said the November 1 temporary closure of hospital beds at Crediton was a decision of the Northern Devon Health Care Trust , despite it best efforts it could not get enough staff to keep this running.

A few people commented that once the beds had gone, they had gone.

Dr Jenner explained briefly the changes since Crediton had been with Mid Devon PCT, the government wanting to split who provided the services and who used them, with the CCG and NEW Devon PCT coming into being to include Crediton.

Dr Christopher Maycock, one of the people instrumental in getting Crediton Hospital built all those years ago, asked why it was not possible to "re-think the whole thing?" which brought applause.

One person said that the mood of the meeting was that "we all assume" that once the temporary shut down was done it would be permanent.

Dr Jenner hoped people would write to the CCG and to the chief executive of NHS England. People were encouraged to write to their MP.

He said "We hope to make the decision with you and not for you."

Use the feed back forms, look at the website, use your voice. Sue Read