STORIES about the new action group appeared in two issues of the "Courier" on Friday, April 10 issue 1028 and on Friday, April 17 issue 1029.

The Devon Community Hospitals Action Group (DCHAG) has been set up with the aim of saving community hospitals and their inpatient beds in Devon.

The group is made up of a number of League of Friends groups from Crediton and other towns in Devon and hopes to have more influence by presenting a stronger and united (non political) front in order to fight hospital bed closures across the county.

One of the roles of DCHAG will be to collect stories and experiences from patients during and after a hospital visit.

At a recent meeting of DCHAG it was mentioned that letters received from people showed the loss of beds was causing problems in larger hospitals that were on black or red alert because of a lack of beds - patients were not able to move to community hospitals because of the bed closures.

A petition against the closure of beds at Crediton Hospital raised thousands of signatures and many people wrote letters to the CCG (Clinical Commissioning Group) opposing the decision – The beds are currently closed on a "temporary" basis.

The story also pointed out that a local MP said that proposals had not been thought through and the finances "did not add up."

What do you think?

Please let me know. Contact me at 102 High Street, Crediton or email: [email protected]">[email protected] .

Readers are also invited to take part in the poll on the "Courier" website: http://www.creditoncouriernewspaper.co.uk">www.creditoncouriernewspaper.co.uk .

What you told us ..........

I think it's a good idea to set up an action group. Everything is closing down and we are very worried about the NHS. It would be a good idea to have inpatient beds at Crediton Hospital. It causes bed blocking in Exeter when they can't send patients home and there are no beds in the community hospitals.

Mr and Mrs Taylor, Lapford

The closure of hospital beds is disgusting! Cut backs in the bus service aren't helping either. I don't know what the elderly will do - they rely on the buses and we all like Chris (the driver). I don't know where it will end.

Diane Leach, Crediton

I'm not happy at all – people from Crediton now have to go to Ottery St Mary. My mum was at Ottery so I know what it's like. It does upset the patients when they are so far away and it is difficult for relatives and friends to visit. I'm in support of keeping Crediton Hospital open.

Sue Skinner, Cheriton Fitzpaine

Online Poll:

Our online readers were asked to select the options they thought applied with regard to the shops and businesses in Crediton: At the time of going to press the results showed:

Modern and traditional shops 0%

Good range of goods and services 40%

Something for everyone 10%

Good community spirit 50%

Easy parking 0%

Good wheelchair/pushchair access 0%