Agenda item

Report of NHS Devon, attached; and appendices, online-only supplement.

Councillor Martin Wrigley declared a personal interest by virtue of being the leader of Teignbridge District Council, which owned the land upon which the proposed Health and Wellbeing Centre was planned to be built.

The Committee considered the Report of NHS Devon which provided responses by NHS Devon to the recommendations made by the Committee at its previous meeting (Minute *134 refers). The recommendations were made based on the report of the Teignmouth Community Hospital Task Group. Appendices to the report were also made available online which consisted of a report by the NHS Devon Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) on Modernising Health and Care Services in the Teignmouth and Dawlish Area, and a related consultation report by Healthwatch in Devon, Plymouth and Torbay.

Councillor Martin Wrigley, Chair of the Task Group, acknowledged the arguments of NHS Devon regarding the need to modernise healthcare services in the area and to provide updated facilities for GPs. However, questions were raised as to whether this need was being conflated with the closure of Teignmouth Community Hospital, and therefore whether the modernisation of healthcare services in the area was contingent on the closure of the Hospital.

Both in the report and at the committee meeting, representatives from NHS Devon outlined the rationale behind the proposals for a new Health and Wellbeing Centre in Teignmouth, stating that a core driver was to secure the integration of multiple services into a purpose-built centre, and that moving only some services into this centre would not represent a financially sustainable model. Also key was to protect the future healthcare provision in the area. They also contended that consultations undertaken on the issue demonstrated a majority of local residents (61%) were in favour of the proposals. They also stated that the proposals had the approval of the South West Clinical Senate which, upon reviewing said proposals, concluded that they were in the best interests of the area. The Independent Reconfiguration Panel also reached similar conclusions in response to the issue’s previous referral to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.

The Committee also heard from staff from the Channel View Medical Group which served to benefit from the building of the proposed Health and Wellbeing Centre by moving into that premises upon completion. The representatives from the Medical Group outlined the poor quality of their current accommodation, with the Group spread across multiple old buildings which were inadequate for their intended purposes. The representatives brought attention to narrow corridors and limited disabled access, and the implications of the poor accommodation on the Group’s ability to adequately staff its service – both in terms of being an attractive prospect for recruitment, and also having the physical space available to accommodate more staff (with many staff having to work virtually, to the detriment of the service provided to patients). There was also concern around the current lease of the Group’s buildings – namely, that it was to expire in approximately fourteen months, and that any referral to the Secretary of State would create uncertainty around the future of where the Group was based. It was argued that not referring would allow clarity as progress could be made on the construction of the Health and Wellbeing Centre, which would provide a basis to negotiate (if necessary) an extension of the current lease.

The representatives from the NHS felt that any further referral to the Secretary of State could pose the risk that the proposals to modernise healthcare services in Teignmouth would become financially unviable.

Member discussion points included:

• Concern on the potential impact of another referral to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the future of healthcare services in the area, with many councillors not wishing to detriment the provision of these services by a potential decision to refer. Members expressed appreciation of the testimony of frontline staff as to what represented the best option for healthcare in Teignmouth;

• Whether the need to modernise healthcare services in the area was dependent on the transfer of some services currently undertaken in Teignmouth Community Hospital to the proposed Health and Wellbeing Centre, or if there was a possibility of constructing the Health and Wellbeing Centre for some services to coexist within the Hospital. Representatives from NHS Devon reiterated that this would not represent a financially sustainable model; and

• Whether there was adequate evidence to justify another referral to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, taking into consideration the Independent Reconfiguration Panel’s previous support of the proposals.

It was MOVED by Councillor Cox and SECONDED by Councillor Wrigley that the Committee continue with the process of referring the closure of Teignmouth Community Hospital to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.

The motion was put to the vote and declared LOST.