Dartmouth hospital up for sale again

Proceeds will fund new health hub

South Devon health chiefs will again try to sell the waterfront Dartmouth Hospital building in September.

It will be a third attempt to dispose of the property, which was one of a number of community hospitals closed by the Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust in 2017.

The future of the large building, on the embankment overlooking the Dart, has been the subject of debate ever since.

The trust was on the brink of selling it in January, but a deal with a ’preferred bidder’ fell through. It then came up for auction earlier this month, with a reported guide price around £1.5 million, but no bids were received.

Now the trust says it will go to auction again on Wednesday 18 September, although director Jake O’Donovan said a number of interested parties may bid before that date.

Meanwhile, South Hams Council has approved an application to have the building registered as an asset of community value, meaning that community groups will have six weeks to express an interest in bidding for the property.

“We will continue to ensure that any sale of either site is in line with the NHS estate code,” said Mr O’Donovan.

The trust says the buildings are no longer needed for healthcare, and need to be sold to help fund the recently opened £5.4 million health and wellbeing hub in the town.

“The new centre supports a much more joined-up approach to health and wellbeing services for local people in state-of-the-art, purpose-designed facilities,” said Mr O’Donovan.