North Devon fights to save its hospital’s £500 million lifeline

An impassioned plea from the people of North Devon has been issued to Health Secretary Wes Streeting urging him to safeguard a major improvement programme promised for North Devon District Hospital.

The campaign, masterminded by North Devon resident David Hoare, calls on Mr Streeting not to abandon a £500 million government cash injection for the hospital, pledged through the New Hospitals Programme by the previous Conservative government.

Fears have been growing for the future of a raft of hospital projects, including  North Devon District Hospital, since Mr Streeting announced last month that the New Hospitals Programme was to be reviewed because of concerns for over-stretched public finances.

In a letter to all MPs on September 20, the Secretary of State said: “The review, which is being jointly conducted by HM Treasury, the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England, will be completed as soon as possible to reach a swift conclusion on the changes needed to ensure an affordable and realistic delivery schedule.

“This will recognise the delivery and market constraints that impact all major capital programmes, as well as the need to continue to deliver the most advanced and most urgent hospitals to a realistic timeframe.”

Barnstaple resident Mr Hoare, who has worked for two Conservative North Devon MPs,  set up a petition to send to Mr Streeting to urge the government to support North Devon and ensure that it received the promised funding that he felt it needed and deserved.

In a letter accompanying the petition that has been sent to the Secretary of State, and shared with the North Devon Gazette,  Mr Hoare wrote: “North Devon District Hospital (NDDH) is the most remote acute hospital in mainland England, being over 50 miles to the next nearest acute hospital. The population served by our hospital is around 165,000 – yet this can more than double in some coastal areas in the summer. Demand modelling has shown the hospital will exceed its urgent and emergency care capacity by 2027-28 which, given the distance and travel-time to the nearest emergency department, poses a significant future risk to patients.”

Mr Hoare, former office manager for two Conservative MPs in North Devon, Selaine Saxby and Peter Heaton-Jones, added: “Having worked closely with Selaine on the new hospital programme and accompanied ministers on visits, I am very well aware of how vital the redevelopment is to the future of the hospital.  It is also vital to staff retention and recruitment as unfortunately some of the critical infrastructure is now elderly and in need of increasingly urgent repair or replacement.
“Whilst the letter has now been sent, I do hope residents across North Devon and Torridge will still sign this petition to show their support for our hospital.”

The petition can be found online: www.https://www.change.org/p/save-north-devon-hospitals-vital-infrastructure-works-from-labour-s-cuts