Plans announced for Torbay hospital redevelopment

Old buildings would make way for new facilities

A new £100 million redevelopment of Torbay’s tired hospital is an opportunity that only arises once in a generation, councillors have been told.

Some of its oldest buildings will make way for state-of-the-art new facilities, while a new medical hub in Torquay town centre will handle tens of thousands of appointments every year.

“These are really exciting times for Torbay’s NHS,” said Adel Jones, director of transformation and partnerships at the Torbay and South Devon NHS Trust.

“It feels like a once-in-a-generation opportunity.”

The council’s adult social care and health committee was shown the latest plans for the massive hospital scheme, which has already started to take shape.

A new radiotherapy centre will open in October, followed by an endoscopy suite the following month. New day-case theatres will open in the new year.

It comes as part of the government’s New Hospital Programme and will be finished by 2030.

As part of the same project, a community diagnostic centre will be built in Torquay, operated by the privately-owned InHealth Group.

“We haven’t seen this kind of investment in the NHS here for a very long time,” said Ms Jones.

And programme director Chris Knights added: “It isn’t just about building a better hospital. It’s about the way we deliver our care.”

The committee was told that the changes would allow the overcrowded emergency department to expand, with twice as much space available.

“It was built in the 1960s for 1960s activity,” he said. “It needs to be upgraded completely.”

The new £5 million town centre hub is designed to offer more than 46,000 patients ultrasound, MRI, CT and other tests every year. It could open as early as April next year.

Councillors raised concerns about how the hospital will deal with an ever-growing Torbay population, and Ms Jones told them: “Care is changing.

“We will be using more digital techniques to help people stay in their own homes. People can be overseen by consultants while staying in their own homes and being monitored there.”

Council leader David Thomas (Con, Preston) said the project was ‘fantastically good news’ and a huge investment for Torbay.

And committee chairman Patrick Joyce (Con, Wellswood) added: “It’s exciting and it’s long overdue. We need to be able to support the people that live in Torbay, and there are really good things ahead.”