OKEHAMPTON Hospital's minor injuries service will be be retained due to its rural locality, The Northern, Eastern and Western Devon Clinical Commissioning Group (NEW Devon CCG) has said in its proposals for the future of community health services in Okehampton and the whole of Devon. The proposals have been designed by NEW Devon CCG in partnership with local GPs, patients, the public and local organisations, including the voluntary sector. The proposals for Okehampton Hospital were included in a document published to cover community health services in the Eastern locality of NEW Devon CCG. The report pledged that the CCG wants to keep the same number of hospital buildings across the locality, and make no significant bed reductions at any of its hospitals before they are confident that community services can look after people at home or as close to home as possible. An inpatient unit with the flexibility to expand provision to cope with seasonal pressures would be provided in Okehampton, in addition to other hospital based services. The hospital's minor injury service will be retained in view of the town's distance from either an emergency department or planned urgent care centre. Dr David Jenner, a GP and chair of Eastern Locality of NEW Devon CCG, said the proposals marked an important step in making sure community health services are sustainable now and in the future. 'The passion and interest shown in community services from our local communities over the past year has been fantastic,' he said. 'We have listened to what people have said and believe our commissioning intentions and our proposals for the future meet this shared vision. 'We know people prefer to be at home with the right support, and we know that we need to rethink the way care is designed to ensure this support is provided. 'We have to act now. We know that in seven years' time there will be 22,000 more people aged over 75 living in our area, which is a huge increase of over 25 per cent. The way community services are run at the moment simply won't cope with this demand. 'If not addressed quickly, we know that the number of over 65s admitted to hospital will rise by two per cent each year. The document we are launching today aims to address this.' He urged that people took the time to read the documents online via the website or pick up a copy at their local library in the next couple of weeks.' A copy of the proposals document can be found on the NEW Devon CCG website, http://www.newdevonccg.nhs.uk">www.newdevonccg.nhs.uk A 12-week involvement and consultation exercise begins today over community services and urgent care. GPs and healthcare managers will host a series of public meetings and drop-in sessions and will visit other groups such as town council meetings to discuss the proposals. The public meeting on proposals in Okehampton takes place at the town hall on Wednesday, November 12 from 6pm to 8pm. Moretonhampstead Sports Hall will host a meeting on Monday, November 3 from 6pm to 8pm. Drop-in sessions will take place at Hatherleigh Community Centre on Tuesday, September 30 from 2pm to 4pm, North Tawton Town Hall on Wednesday, October 22 from 10am to noon, Chagford's Jubilee Hall on Tuesday, October 28 from 2pm to 4pm, and Bow Village Hall on Wednesday, November 5 from 2pm to 4pm. For more information or to register for one of the above events, contact Nicola Webber on [email protected]">[email protected] or 01392 356 129.