LIBERAL Democrat leader Ed Davey will hear about North Devon District Hospital’s ageing operating theatre and critical care infrastructure when he visits next week.

Because of its remoteness, North Devon Liberal Democrat MP Ian Roome wants the Barnstaple hospital to be made a special case as the government undertakes its review into planned upgrades formerly announced by the Conservatives.

A number of Lib Dem MPs in Devon have joined a petition by Cornish MP Ben Maguire demanding the government reconsiders the review and allows the works to go ahead.

They include Steve Darling (Torbay) and Caroline Voaden (South Devon). Torbay Hospital and a new women’s and children’s hospital at Treliske in Cornwall are also on the list as is Derriford’s new urgent and emergency care facility.

The New Hospital Programme (NHP) was expected to be backed with £20 billion of funding but health secretary Wes Streeting says the plan is “not deliverable”.

MPs are now concerned that the hospitals in review – ones without business case approval for their main build phase – could be cancelled.

Mr Roome, a former mental health nurse, said former Tory health minister Lord Markham visited North Devon District Hospital (NDDH) last summer and promised spades would be in the ground by February this year.

“We have not seen a penny. It’s all been about business cases and consultants,” he said.

“It is absolutely imperative that the government’s review into the New Hospital Programme at NDDH focuses on urgent needs in the area. The decision to scrap these plans would be catastrophic.”

He has invited Mr Davey to visit on Wednesday.

“The NDDH has a high level of on-site infrastructure risk and, given that it’s the most remote mainland hospital in England, the effects of losing this funding could be devastating, forcing people to travel long distances to access essential care,” said Mr Roome.

He said the hospital provided a 24/7 emergency service and is a designated trauma unit, meaning it could “stabilise the most severe conditions” before patients are transferred to more specialised hospitals at Bristol, Plymouth or London.

“The thing is if you lose a hospital in London, there is another 10 minutes away. That is not the case here in North Devon. Patients in Lynton and Lynmouth face a two-hour trip to get to Exeter.

“Our hospital is over-capacity as it is, and the theatre and intensive care unit are over 50 years old.”

At a board meeting of the Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust this week, chief executive Sam Higginson said the trust is continuing to make the case for NDDH “very strongly” with the government.

He said they are concerned “if there was a failure there what the implications of that might be for patients” given risks faced with the ageing theatre and critical care infrastructure.

“I, and the chair, have both written to the secretary of state for health to make that case yet again and invited him to come and visit us in Barnstaple to see for himself.” he said.

“We think we will see some outcome from the review around about budget time (Wednesday 30 October) and we will convene as a board to decide the next steps once we are clear what the future holds

“The most important thing for me is that we end up in a position where we have safe and appropriate infrastructure.”

In a letter to MPs in constituencies affected by the review, Mr Streeting said the previous government failed to hold a spending review in their last few years of office, which allowed the Conservatives to suggest £20 billion of investment for hospitals which hadn’t been accounted for.

Conservative MP for South West Devon Rebecca Smith has launched her own petition to save the urgent and emergency care facility at Derriford.

She said: “I welcome the fact that the government is still considering this essential scheme. The capacity challenges at Derriford Hospital are in plain sight.

“Its health workers operate in an extremely challenging environment. Every day my inbox is filled with emails from constituents who are left waiting for treatment at Derriford Hospital.”

Alison Stephenson