Healthcare in Devon

Healthcare in Devon is now the responsibility of the two Clinical Commissioning Groups, one covering Northern, Eastern and Western Devon (which is the country's biggest, an area with 900,000 people), and one covering South Devon and Torbay.

History

From 1947 to 1974 NHS services in Devon were managed by the South-Western Regional Hospital Board. In 1974 the Boards were abolished and replaced by Regional Health Authorities. Devon came under the South West RHA. Regions were reorganised in 1996 and Devon came under the South and West (Wessex and South Western) Regional Health Authority. Devon Area Health Authority from 1974 had four District health authorities based in Exeter, North Devon, Plymouth and Torbay. In 1993 Exeter and North Devon were combined, as were Plymouth and Torbay. There were three Primary care trusts established in the county in 2002: Devon PCT Plymouth Teaching PCT (also known as NHS Plymouth) and Torbay Care Trust. They were managed by the South West Peninsula Strategic health authority from 2002 until 2006 when that was merged into NHS South West.

The CCGs took on the responsibilities of the former PCTs of NHS Devon, Plymouth and Torbay in April 2013.^[1]

Relations between Northern, Eastern and Western Devon CCG and Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust were reported by David Flory to have been “strained over the last two years” in 2015. He reported that a “facilitator” had been appointed to support contract negotiations between the two organisations.^[2]

North, East and West Devon was one of three areas proposed for the new “success regime” by Simon Stevens in June 2015 in which NHS England will work in partnership with Monitor and the NHS Trust Development Authority to tackle in the local health economy.^[3]

In March 2016 Angela Pedder, Chief Executive of Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust was appointed the leader of the Devon Sustainability and transformation plan footprint.^[4]

Primary and Community Care

There are 130 GP practices in Northern, Eastern and Western Devon and 35 in South Devon and Torbay. The GP Patient Survey for 2013/14 showed 18% of patients in South Devon and Torbay had to wait longer than a week to see a GP - better than the national average of 24%. 90% of patients in the area rated their overall experience of GP surgeries as good, above the national average of 86%.^[5]

4 practices in Plymouth (all in the marginal Plymouth Sutton and Devonport constituency), were granted a total of £100,000 for improved facilities in March 2015.^[6]

Out-of-hours services are provided by Devon Doctors.

Commissioning

Northern, Eastern and Western Devon Clinical Commissioning Group decided in November 2014 that Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust would be its preferred provider of community services. This decision was challenged by Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust which had been providing these services and in February 2015 Monitor (NHS) announced that it would investigate this complaint.^[7] Northern Devon said the decision will mean it will have to give up ownership of some of its community hospitals. Ownership of 12 of the trust’s community hospitals will “in all likelihood” transfer to NHS Property Services.

The sites that could be affected are:

• Tiverton and District Hospital;
• Honiton Hospital;
• Axminster Hospital;
• Ottery St Mary Hospital;
• Seaton Community Hospital;
• Sidmouth Hospital;
• Exmouth Hospital;
• Budleigh Salterton Hospital;
• Exeter Community Hospital;
• Moretonhampstead Community Hospital;
• Crediton Hospital;
• Okehampton Community Hospital.^[8]

Community Services

Plymouth Community Healthcare was established under the Transforming Community Services programme in 2011. It took over social services in the city in 2015.^[9]

Palliative care is provided by Children's Hospice South West, Hospiscare, Rowcroft Hospice, St Luke’s Hospice Plymouth, and North Devon Hospice.

Social care

Mears Group won a contract to provide home care services for Devon County Council in March 2016. ^[10]

Hospital Services

The main hospital providers in the county are Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust, Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust, Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust and Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust. The leaked Sustainability and transformation plan for the county, intended to tackle a predicted funding gap of £572m in 2020/21, suggested that 600 hospital beds could go, and that most acute services, including the maternity unit, would move from Barnstaple to Exeter and Plymouth. ^[11] Stroke, vascular service, paediatrics, maternity and ear, nose and throat services would be consolidated onto fewer sites. Community hospital provision would be considerably reduced. ^[12]

Patient involvement

Healthwatch was set up under the Health and Social Care Act 2012 to act as a voice for patients. The county has Healthwatches based in Plymouth, Torbay and Exeter.

Financial pressure

Devon was named one of the 11 most financially challenged health economies in the country in 2014. NEW Devon and the two main acute providers – Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust and the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust predict a combined deficit of almost £45m in 2014/5. The CCG has a turnover of £1.1bn. It has introduced some demand management measures - such as requiring smokers to quit for six weeks prior to routine surgery, and a ban on procedures of low clinical value - because demand for services is outstripping what they can afford.^[13] In November 2014 it produced a list of a list of 24 procedures it was considering for decommissioning.^[14] It had identified £80m worth of savings and has plans to save up to £159m more from a deficit expected to reach £430m by 2019.^[15] Proposals included reorganising beds in community hospitals.^[16] According to Rebecca Harriott, chief officer of the NEW Devon Clinical Commissioning Group because of the significant ageing population in the area "we’re experiencing now what many health economies won’t experience for another 20 years’ time in terms of the demographics.”^[17]

In December 2014 the CCG announced that in the case of routine surgery for morbidly obese patients - with a body mass index greater than 35 - the patient would be required to have a BMI of under 35 or to lose 5 per cent of their weight before planned surgery, whichever is the lesser weight loss. Patients would be required to stop smoking for eight weeks before planned surgery.^[18] This explicit rationing was denounced on all sides. Our NHS claimed the "end of the NHS is swimming into focus".^[19] Eric Pickles, whose body mass index was reported to be 32, and falling said "The idea that you would say “You will not survive, you’ve had your chips, you are too fat, you smoke too much…” Exeter MP Ben Bradshaw told Nick Clegg that he would be denied an operation in Devon because he smokes, as would Eric Pickles because he’s too big. Pickles retorted that since he had lost weight he would not now fall foul of the policy.^[20] The CCG announced that it was caving in to the pressure and would no longer impose a ban, but would "further promote smoking cessation and weight loss services to improve outcomes for patients".^[21]

The CCG also abandoned a plan to restrict patients to only one hearing aid.^[22]

NEW Devon CCG ended 2014-15 with a cumulative deficit of £38.9m and expects this to increase to £78.9m (after savings of £37.1m) by the end of 2015-16, the largest cumulative deficit of any CCG in England.^[23] The success regime board headed by Ruth Carnall estimated in February 2016 that without change services in NEW Devon would be in deficit of £442 million by 2020/1. By that time nearly 25% of the population will be over 65.^[24]

Mental health

Mental health services in the county are largely provided by Devon Partnership NHS Trust.

In December 2014 Paul Netherton, assistant chief constable of Devon and Cornwall Police, complained publicly after a 16-year-old girl suffering mental health issues was held in a custody cell in Devon for around 48 hours because there were “no beds available in the UK”. 750 mentally ill people – including 28 children – had been detained in police custody in the county during 2014. Adolescents with mental health problems in Devon have been sent to units in Hull, Newcastle and Lancashire, and several vulnerable young people in the county have also been admitted to adult psychiatric units.^[25] Ben Bradshaw MP for Exeter complained that the chronic shortage of appropriate accommodation for young people and the chaos and confusion was caused by the Government’s disastrous reorganisation of the NHS "because there are now so many different organisations involved in commissioning and providing services, no-one takes ultimate responsibility."^[26]

There has been an increase in the number of people presenting at the A&E Department at Derriford. In 2012 there were 2,700. In 2013:2,908. In 2014: 3,346.^[27]

See also

• Category:Health in Devon
• Healthcare in the United Kingdom

References

External links

• NEW Devon CCG
• South Devon and Torbay CCG
• Healthwatch Devon
• Healthwatch Plymouth
• Healthwatch Torbay