HEALTH bosses have confirmed this week that Okehampton will not lose its minor injuries service, but it will be taken over by a new provider.

Talk has been rife in the town about the future of the Minor Injuries Unit (MIU) at Okehampton Hospital, with fears that it is set to close. There is also concern for the future of the hospital as a whole.

Last month the Okement Surgery closed at the hospital leaving hundreds of patients looking for a new practice — many of these patients have been accommodated at the Okehampton Medical Centre.

A spokesperson for NHS Northern, Eastern and Western Devon Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) confirmed to the Times this week that it was in negotiations with a new provider to take over the running of the minor injuries service, but could not confirm whether it would be at the hospital or elsewhere in Okehampton.

At an Okehampton Town Council meeting on Monday, resident Lynn Lane expressed concerns that she had heard that the MIU was set for closure, that the out of hours service (Devon Doctors) would cease to run from Okehampton Hospital, that the Dartmoor Ward in the hospital was set to be turned into offices and that there would be a reduction in the maternity unit.

She said: ‘I have been told that the MIU will close within the next two months and that the contract to run a minor injuries service will be handed to the medical centre. During the weekends Devon Doctors currently see patients, by appointment, at the MIU.

‘The plan is to change this to not having a doctor based at the hospital at the weekend and the details of this will be announced soon. As I understand it the nearest place patients will be able to go to see a doctor at the weekend will be Launceston, Moretonhampstead or Exeter.’

‘The services that the hospital provides are very important to our rapidly growing town and especially to the more vulnerable members of our community and to the elderly.’

‘The sooner people know what is going on, the more likely it is that we will have a chance to make a difference. We have already lost the Okement Surgery that was based at the hospital and it looks like they now want to take the whole hospital away from us.’

Councillors at the meeting were also concerned about the hospital.

Cllr Dr Michael Ireland said: ‘This is very, very sad. There will be nothing left — if they keep stripping away bits there will be no community hospital left.’

West Devon Borough Councillor for Okehampton North Cllr the Rev Mike Davies said he had been getting lots of phone calls about the hospital.

‘It is time we, as councillors, stood together to be proactive about it. We should move forward as quickly as possible. We should stand together for the good of Okehampton and fight to keep it.’

Devon County Councillor for Okehampton Rural Cllr Kevin Ball said: ‘I completely endorse the view that this has to be a uniform approach. When the Okement Surgery closed we were behind by about four months — we have to be right on it with this.

‘If the council was minded to have a public meeting, I would fully support it. The hospital is an important asset in our community and we need to be together on this.’

The council agreed to gain clarification on the situation and put it on the agenda for the next available meeting.

In response to the Times’ request, a spokesperson for NHS Northern, Eastern and Western Devon Clinical Commissioning Group, said: ‘A minor injuries service will continue in Okehampton, but with a different provider. The contracts for community services and minor injury services are due to end in the Eastern locality (Exeter, Mid Devon, East Devon and parts of West Devon, including Okehamton). At this point, Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust will no longer be the provider and therefore a new provider for minor injury services needs to be sought.

‘NHS Northern, Eastern and Western CG is currently negotiating for a new provider for the minor injury services in Okehampton, We are hoping to be able to announce the new provider and the date of the transfer within the next few weeks.

‘The contract for out of hours care in Devon — currently Devon Doctors — is also part of another procurement process for out of hours and the NHS 111 telephone number. Further details about this process should be announced soon.’

In response to questions regarding the wards at the hospital and the maternity unit, the spokesperson said: ‘The CCG has confirmed that it will commission 16 inpatient beds at Okehampton Hospital, in line with the CCG governing body decision in July 2015. There is a procurement process currently underway for the provider of community services, including community hospital inpatient beds, in the Eastern locality.

‘The Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital Foundation NHS Trust has been named as the preferred provider for this service and a due diligence process is currently underway. As part of the due diligence in a procurement process, it is standard practice to visit all the sites involved in the delivery of services to catalogue and audit all the equipment, IT infrastructure and utilised space. This is to ensure all the assets required to provide the service at the point of transfer and the appropriate support for ongoing servicing and maintenance are in place.’

The spokesperson also added that there is to be no reduction to the maternity unit at Okehampton Hospital.

‘On occasion, due to staff sickness, it can be necessary to care for expectant and new mothers at the RD&E in Exeter,’ they said.