Campaign to save Seaton Hospital wing demolition

"Insult to community" says MP Foord

Efforts are ramping up to save part of Seaton Hospital at risk of being demolished.

Campaigners are pushing for the two-storey wing at the community hospital to be repurposed as a care hub, which would include support for patients with dementia, as well as palliative care and bereavement support.

MP Richard Foord (Lib Dem, Tiverton & Honiton) raised the issue at prime minister’s questions in parliament on Wednesday, and has written to health secretary Steve Barclay to request an urgent meeting.

“The proposal to demolish this wing is an insult to the community that raised millions of pounds to help fund the upkeep of services at that hospital,” he told MPs in the house of commons.

His letter to Mr Barclay, he said Seaton & District Hospital League of Friends has raised £2 million in recent years to support the hospital, adding that the demolition of the wing could “threaten the long-term viability of the hospital as a whole.”

And East Devon District Council leader Paul Arnott (Lib Dem, Coly Valley) told the authority’s council meeting this week that he understood the seriousness of the situation.

“We have already started having internal meetings about what the possibilities may be, and we will explore those as urgently as possible,” he said.

“My personal view is that this is the havoc caused when too many agencies are involved, and we as East Devon need to show leadership here as we are the closest tier of local government that can do something about it.”

The hospital wing has been largely unused since 2017. However, some services remain based there, including offices for palliative care nurses and other teams, with parts of it also used during the covid pandemic.

The space is currently rented by the Devon Integrated Care Board (ICB) from NHS Property Services, a government-owned company.

A spokesperson for NHS Devon said the site costs about £300,000 a year in rent and other charges.

“This is poor use of taxpayers’ money at a time when we are forecasting another budget deficit of more than £40 million this year,” the spokesperson said.

“In recent months, we have been talking to local health, care and community partners to see if they are interested and financially able to take on the space, but no viable schemes have been received and we started the process of handing the ward space back to NHS Property Services (NHSPS) so we can save the money that is currently being wasted on it.

“We have always been very happy to talk to prospective occupants of the space if they have a financially viable scheme to take it on – and we remain so.”

A spokesperson for Mr Foord said the MP had a meeting planned with the chair of NHS Devon on Friday (20 October) to further discuss the proposals.

Campaigners hope that NHS Property Services might consider transferring ownership of the building to the NHS in Devon, or alternatively to a community interest company, that could then pay rent.

A spokesperson for NHS Property Services said it had not yet received a formal approach from Mr Foord.

“However, if and when it does arrive, we will of course respond according to our usual protocols,” the spokesperson said.