NORTH Devon MP Ian Roome has said he fears for patients’ safety after the planned rebuild of the most remote acute hospital in mainland England was pushed back several years.

The upgrade to North Devon District Hospital, now estimated to cost between £1 billion and £1.5 billion, was originally promised under Conservatives for completion by 2030.

But following Labour’s review of the New Hospitals Programme the work is now scheduled to take place in the third wave of hospital revamps between 2035 and 2038.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the Conservatives’ plan to complete 40 hospitals by 2030 was “unfunded and undeliverable”.

Many buildings at the hospital in Barnstaple are more than 50 years old, it needs eight new operating theatres and eight new intensive care beds.

Liberal Democrat MP Mr Roome, who has been campaigning for funding since being elected last July, said the delay was “a devastating blow and major setback for North Devon”.

The first wave of 16 hospital upgrades for completion between 2025 and 2030 will include Derriford’s new emergency care department in Plymouth. Torbay Hospital’s rebuild will follow between 2030 to 2035, to the fury of bay Lib Dem MP Steve Darling.

But Mr Roome said for North Devon, which he claimed already had a partner on board and is going through final business case approvals, it was “a bitter disappointment for all involved”.

“The neglect of NDDH will have a ripple effect on the entire Devon healthcare system,” he said.

“Both the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital and Derriford Hospital already face serious pressure on service delivery, and confronting NDDH’s patient load would be catastrophic.”

Mr Roome has called on health ministers to visit North Devon and witness the situation first hand, a request to which he says Wes Streeting has agreed.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey visited the hospital in October and said he was “shocked” there had been no expansion to the operating theatres since 1978.

CEO at the Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust Sam Higginson said: “We are deeply disappointed for the communities of North Devon, our patients and staff that the critical nature of North Devon District Hospital and the need for urgent investment has not been fully recognised in the review into the New Hospital Programme.

“We have spoken publicly about the risks in our ability to continue to deliver health and care services which meet both our current and future needs.

“These further delays mean that we will need to assess the full details of this review rapidly and seek routes to funding to mitigate the most severe risks to our theatres and intensive care unit between now and 2035.”

Wes Streeting said the government had put the programme to upgrade around 40 hospitals on a firm footing with sustainable funding, so all projects could be delivered.

Patients were being given an “honest, realistic, deliverable timetable in which they can have confidence”, he said.

“This government is committed to rebuilding our NHS and to rebuilding trust in government.”

Alison Stephenson