South Devon and Torbay Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) provided a stakeholder update yesterday, 7th March, regarding their plans to reconfigure local NHS services.
It has been decided that Paignton Hospital is to stop taking in-patients from 3rd April 2017. Local MP Kevin Foster was disappointed and surprised at the speed at which this announcement and decision has apparently been taken.
Kevin commented,
"This news is not just disappointing, it is a slap in the face for so many local people who have campaigned hard to keep their services.
It is very hard to see how the CCG can define that the alternative services are apparently in place so quickly. When this is combined with the proposed changes at Torbay Hospital, I am now very concerned about where this leaves our health services in the Bay, and that we may encounter real problems this winter.
The CCG is accountable - the staff are public servants in receipt of public money. I will therefore be demanding an urgent meeting with the Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt MP, to discuss my fears about the combined impact these two changes could have."