NHS makes its report on Seaton Hospital available to me
Following my request, the Devon Integrated Commissioning Board (ICB), successor to the CCG which closed Seaton Hospital’s ward in 2017, has made public the report which was used to make the decision on 4 October to potentially hand the ward building back to NHS Property Services, which could lead to its demolition. In the interests of public information I am publishing this in full. The first page is reproduced as a photo – the remainder of the report continues as text.
However this report presents a distorted history of the hospital and in a following post I will spell out precisely why it cannot be accepted.
The beds were removed following full public consultation when new ways of looking after people in the local community – often in their own home – were brought in and they have been very successful.
The Your Future Care consultation ran from 7 October 2016 until 6 January 2017 and was led by the then-Northern, Eastern and Western Devon Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). It focussed on proposals to provide more care and support for elderly and frail people at home and in the community. The aim was to prevent unnecessary admissions to hospital and, if patients need to go to hospital, to get home as quickly as possible, improving their chances of a better recovery.
Throughout the consultation period, the CCG attended over 70 events and public meetings. More than 2,000 people attended these events and discussed the proposals. 1,552 responses to the survey were received, in addition to more than 650 letters and emails.
Separately, ownership of Seaton Community Hospital transferred from the then- Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust to NHS Property Services in 2016 when the community services contract moved from NDHT to the then-Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust.
NHS Property Services charges market rent and other property costs on empty space in its buildings. Where there is no tenant, these ‘void costs’ are paid by the integrated care board, in this case NHS Devon.
Since the Your Future Care consultation, vacant space at the hospital, including the empty ward and linked office space, has cost the NHS in Devon around £1.5millon – poor use of taxpayers’ money. The ward has been fully decommissioned, with utilities disconnected to reduce service charges.
Working with health, care and community partners
This year we have been working with local health, care and community partners to see if they are interested and able to take on the space. These partners include:
o NHS Devon commissioning colleagues o Devon’s acute trusts
o Devon’s mental health providers
o Local GPs
o The Eastern Local Care Partnership
o Local voluntary, community and social enterprise sector groups o Other commissioners
o Other interested parties
With all partners who have expressed an interest in occupying the space, we have been clear that any proposal would need be viable financially, which means being able to cover the cost of bringing the building back up to useable standard, reconfiguring it and then paying the annual rent and service costs. We estimate that the cost of bringing it back into a usable condition would be significant.
Generally, hospital buildings need to be built and maintained to a higher standard than normal commercial buildings, which means they can be comparatively expensive to occupy.
This has meant some local groups would like to occupy the space but can’t afford to and no viable schemes have been received from any of the partners we have approached about occupying the ward.
With that in mind, and faced with ongoing stark financial challenges, we have started the process of surrendering this space so we can save the money that is not currently able to benefit patients. We took a decision on this in September, which effectively means we are in the process of handing the former ward area back to the building owner, NHS Property Services.
No NHS services affected
No NHS services are affected by this work. All services at the hospital continue as normal and there is no proposal to change any services. Local people should continue to attend appointments at the hospital as normal.
Next steps
The current position is that negotiations with NHSPS continue on what will happen next as the handback process is not straightforward.
We have always been very happy to talk to prospective occupants of the space if they have a financially viable scheme to take it on – and we remain so.
Ideally, a solution will be found that involves a positive future for the former ward but the NHS in Devon is under significant pressure to tackle its financial challenges and any possible solutions need to be found as quickly as possible, mindful of the ongoing and significant financial burden the empty space places on our finances.
There are many possible ways forward and all of them are being explored. If the ward was handed back to NHS Property Services, it would be for NHS Property Services to determine what to do with the building.
We continue to meet with local partners to talk about this work.
Seaton & Colyton MATTERS 