A councillor is urging people living in and around Okehampton to come to a meeting today to find out how health services will pan out following recent bed closures at the hospital.

NHS staff and voluntary providers will be on hand to answer questions about what services people can expect, in the wake of the closure of the hospital’s 16 in-patient beds and temporary closure of the beds in the maternity unit.

The meeting is being held in the Ockment Centre today, Friday, October 13, from 10am to 4pm.

County councillor Kevin Ball, who represents Okehampton and the surrounding area, said: ‘This is an opportunity to ask the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust and the Northern, Eastern and Western Devon Care Commissioning Group about the decisions made, and about what provision is being made going forward.

‘I instigated this meeting because I felt that the care commissioning group needed to meet the community to explain why they have made recent decisions. This is an opportunity to ask questions about these decisions and also get clarification about what the future looks like.’

The beds in the maternity unit will now remain closed into the New Year, with the NHS blaming ‘ongoing staff vacancies and long-term sickness absence’ for the decision to extend the temporary closure over the summer.

Ante and postnatal outpatient clinics, midwifery support and home births continue to be provided from the hospital. More than 40 other health clinics are also held there.