HOSPITAL beds in Axminster will be closed permanently following a meeting by the new Devon Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).

The changes will mean the number of community hospital inpatient units in east Devon will be reduced from ten to seven - while community hospitals at Axminster, Crediton and Ottery St Mary will no longer have overnight impatient beds.

Doctors last week agreed to consolidate overnight inpatient beds at eastern Devon’s community hospitals in order to secure nursing care close to people’s homes.

None of the community hospitals are at risk of closure following the decision. Health and social care hubs with a range of outpatient services, day surgery and other health and social care services will be developed at hospitals without inpatient beds.

Dr David Jenner, a GP from Cullompton and chairman of the Eastern Locality of NHS New Devon CCG, said: “This will improve the resilience of care at our community hospitals in the face of financial and workforce challenges.

“We are looking to continually improve services to support people in their local communities whether they are cared for at home or in hospital and this is one step forward on that journey.

“We want to thank all the local people and organisations who have been involved throughout the development of the plans over the last couple of years. We held over 30 public meetings or drop-in sessions and have taken their comments into consideration when making our decision."

Inpatient beds at Axminster were transferred to Seaton in January due to staff shortages and problems with lone working.

Community groups campaigned for the beds to return to Axminster, and the League of Friends offered £300,000 to kick-start this process.

A joint action team, made up of the trust, the League and the Hospital Action Group, looked at ways of bringing the beds back to Axminster. It was hoped they would be reinstated this month.

“Of course we understand that some people will always want to have community beds in their own area and this decision may disappoint them but making sure everyone has the same level of access to services is very important", added Dr Jenner.

“Over the last few years the hospital provider Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust has had to temporarily close some community hospital inpatient units due to staffing issues. Consolidating from ten to seven units means we will have much more robust staffing at our hospitals in the future.”

The process in which we developed the changes agreed today will now be considered at the Devon Health and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee meeting in September.