England's most remote hospital in Devon a 'ticking time bomb'

The plug has been pulled on a major upgrade while a review is carried out

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has been in North Devon to commit his party to fighting for better infrastructure for the district hospital with "every sinew in our body."

Funding for the hospital's upgrade is uncertain after the government put halt to a £20 billion New Hospital Programme (NHP) whilst it undertakes a review.

The programme was drawn up by the Conservatives in 2019 with 40 hospitals earmarked to be rebuilt by 2030, but now health secretary Wes Streeting has called it "undeliverable."

Sir Ed, who accompanied longstanding health campaigner North Devon MP Ian Roome on a tour of the Barnstaple site, said he was "shocked" there had been no expansion in the operating theatres since 1978 when it was built.

The hospital needs eight extra theatres to meet capacity and eight new intensive care beds. Officials say there are so many bolt-ons and modular units added to the buildings there is no room for any more.

The hospital, the most remote hospital in mainland England, has needed a major revamp for 30 years. North Devon patients face an hour and a half trip to reach the next nearest hospital.

Sir Ed said: "There are some amazing staff at this hospital, some of the best in the country, but they are working in conditions they shouldn't have to and I just wonder why it's not been been tackled before. This should be right at the top of the list of the new government to get capital here for North Devon.

He said Mr Roome, a former mental health nurse and former head of fundraising at the hospital, was a "proper champion" for it, and North Devon is lucky to have him in Westminster where he will be "the voice to make sure the case was heard properly".

And he said the NHS and care sector are top issues for the Lib Dems, which had fought the election campaign on it.

"We will fight for better hospital infrastructure with every sinew in our body. This hospital has to be invested in. There is no other place for people to go."

Clinical lead for the Our Future Hospital (OFH) programme at NDDH Professor David Sanders said the hospital served a very different purpose and population than when it was built nearly 50 years ago.

"As the major acute and elective care provider for the population of North Devon and North Cornwall, it simply doesn't have the capacity in order to utilise its facilities and staff appropriately and there is a massive unmet need. With more operating theatres we could meet that need."

He said with only four theatres, it is challenging to retain the "incredibly high quality" surgeons as some of them could only operate once every three weeks.

"It's like running an airline but grounding your planes," he said.

One theatre was due to be closed soon as it is past its shelf life, but Mr Sanders told the Lib Dem leader: "We can't do this because we need it. It's like a ticking time bomb waiting to go off."

OFH was set up in response to the hospital's inclusion in the Conservative's New Hospital's Programme, and the MPs were shown the first steps of it in action, with the building of a new administration facility which would release capacity in the main building.

Mr Sanders said the next stage is to demolish old residences and build new staff accommodation.

Funds for these two phases is more secure, but staff are waiting to see if the government's spending review will allocate money to replace the main core infrastructure - operating theatres, intensive care unit and a women and children's health building.

Ian Roome said: "This hospital very dear to my heart. My children were born here and I have given a lot of years of my life to the NHS in my working capacity.

"It's my number one priority to make sure we get the investment that we need in North Devon District Hospital so that the surgeons and the wider healthcare workforce have got the infrastructure for them to do their job.

"At the moment it's like having the trains at the train station and them not moving."