A leaked letter has revealed that hospital bed closures are planned for Sidmouth, Seaton, Honiton and Ottery.
The closures are said to be temporary and part of a 15-bed package also affecting community hospitals in Exmouth and Exeter.
Sidmouth, Seaton and Honiton will each see two beds close, whilst the figure is three for Ottery, the letter reveals.
In addition, the Minor Injuries Unit in Sidmouth will also close temporarily.
Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust (NDHT), which manages the hospitals, did not inform Pulman’s View, but the details are in a leaked letter to stakeholders, dated November 2nd.
NDHT Chief Executive Dr Alison Diamond wrote: “We have had a spending limit (cap) on the amount of our budget that we can spend on agency staff imposed.
“We do not have permission to breach this limit and therefore were required to consider how we temporarily reconfigure our services in the safest possible way.
“Our approach was to explore only those proposals that maintained quality of care, addressed the risks of over-reliance on agency staff and which had the least impact on patients and our clinical workforce.
“It is important to note that these are temporary and urgent, in that they will be reversed in March 2016 and that we continue to recruit to our vacant clinical posts.
“So far the trust has spent £5million on nursing agency in six months, compared to £6million for the whole of last year.
“Our agency hotspots are mostly in the community hospitals.”
The most recent agency nurse figure for Sidmouth Hospital, for example, is 27.32 per cent.
The Chief Executive also said: “We would have preferred to have been able to involve you far more in the discussions about the safest way to maintain these services.
“However, the cap is being imposed from the middle of November and this means we must take emergency and temporary measures to address the safety concerns as well as ensuring we are not penalised for breaching the agency cap.”
Axminster GP Dr James Vann said he was not impressed by the decision when asked for comment.
Dr Vann played a leading role in pressure groups fighting the recent and much-publicised in-patient bed closures at Axminster Hospital.
He said: “We have heard this all before. NDHT does not make temporary cuts.
“In my opinion, previously they have been part of a closure campaign. “The sooner NDHT stops meddling with our community services in East Devon the better.
“I hope that the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) will be more active in controlling the actions of this provider.
“NDHT has known for the past two years that recruitment is difficult. “They worked closely with a group in Axminster to try and improve recruitment and were successful to the degree that Axminster Hospital nearly reopened, finding 10 new whole time equivalent nurses in three months.
“They have failed to learn from this experience and are now back again having to employ excessive numbers of agency nurses and spending more than most trusts on agency nursing.
“Closing beds is a panic measure being undertaken by the trust and certainly at this time of year cannot be in the patient’s best interest. “Please can the CCG try to accelerate the start of their new chosen provider, the Royal Devon & Exeter Trust.”
Dr Alison Diamond, chief executive, said: “We are working with the CCG and RD&E to look at whether alternative options are available. Our priority is to provide safe and effective care as well as resilient services for patients.”
East Devon Watch 