A DRASTIC plan by Northern, Eastern and Western Devon Clinical Commissioning Group (NEW Devon CCG) and South Devon and Torbay CCG to remodel health services in the county to make big savings could have an adverse effect on community hospitals in the West Devon area.

A draft of the CCG’s Wider Devon Sustainability and Transformation plan (STP), which proposes how local health services will change in an effort to become sustainable and is set to be rolled out in April next year, has leaked.

The document outlines plans to reduce the number of Devon hospitals offering acute and specialist services. Nearly 600 acute hospital beds in the county could be removed.

The draft suggests that current investment in community beds should be cut in favour of community centred care built around the idea of treating patients at home in their own beds. Quite the effect such proposals will have on community hospitals like Tavistock is currently unclear.

The STP was submitted to NHS England on June 30 and is one of 44 such plans being submitted across the country. It is thought the Devon plan could be among the most drastic in an attempt to tackle overspending.

The STP report has been written by Angela Pedder, the lead chief executive for the STP and Success Regime in Devon. She said: ’Both CCGs have identified the challenges facing the health system in Devon and the need for change.

’The NHS and local authorities as a whole system are now working together to improve care through more integrated and locally tailored services and our plans will be formally communicated through the next version of the STP when it is published.’

In a statement responding to the leaks, NEW Devon CCG said the draft was ‘a work in progress’ and ’more analysis and consideration’ needed to be undertaken before the work was complete.

The statement said: ’The STP creates the opportunity for health and local authorities to work together and formulate plans to improve and secure the sustainability of services we deliver to people across Devon.

‘This is a positive process that builds on work already undertaken building on engagement and feedback from members of the public, patients and other stakeholders by the North, East and West Devon Success Regime in the Case for Change, which was published in February 2016. South Devon and Torbay CCG’s Case for Change was published on September 1, 2016.

‘Each STP area is responsible for engaging local people and stakeholders on their draft proposals. No changes to the services people currently receive will be made without local engagement and, where required, consultation. There are longstanding assurance processes in place to make sure this happens.

‘Engagement events have been held over the summer and will continue as the process of developing our STP continues. We will be talking to the public and stakeholders regularly about the main themes from the plan and this has helped shape our early thinking. 

‘We have been very open with people in both case for change documents about the scale of challenge our health and social care system faces and also the opportunities for improvement that exist. Clinical and financial sustainability has to be achieved alongside improvements in health and wellbeing for the people across Devon.

‘The programme of work to review acute and specialised service across Devon will commence in October.’

A further submission will be made in October and the CCG will follow the nationally agreed timetable for publication of the STP document.