Owl wonders if Councillor Christine Channon and Chris Davis, who advised her, in late January that the Shandford Care home in Budleigh was not “viable”, had known Covid-19 was coming, would they have tried harder to keep it open? Do they have any regrets, now the full consequences of their fateful decision are becoming exposed?

Owl has previously reported that a different group of local experts, with very relevant professional experience, believed there were strong grounds to challenge the case for non-viability.

The local community, given time, had also expressed the will and energy to re-create a local Community Interest Company to take over and run Shandford but has been denied access to essential information.

Daniel Clark Local Democracy Reporting Service BBC

A second facility has opened in Devon to take patients discharged from hospital to help relieve pressure on the county’s hospitals. 

The Hilton Hotel at Exeter Airport is already taking people discharged from hospital and now the Fleet care home in Dartmouth, formerly known as the Riverview, is also to be used to help relieve the pressure. 

It will open imminently with the potential to increase capacity by an extra 24 beds temporarily for people being discharged from hospital or moving in from home due to ill-health. 

Devon County Council is also in discussion with a hotel owner in Bideford – named last week as the Durrant House Hotel – about opening up similar accommodation for discharged patients. 

Alongside the potential Bideford facility and the Hilton, which is already taking people, the three facilities would provide an extra 200 beds, staffed by trained and experienced health and care professionals. 

Cllr Andrew Leadbetter, Devon County Council’s Cabinet Member responsible for adult social care, said: “These will be for people who do not need to be in acute hospitals, but who require extra care before returning home or until residential or nursing places can be found for them. 

“They can also be used by people with care needs who have been living at home, but who can no longer do so – if their carer becomes unwell, for example. We are doing absolutely everything we can to ensure that people in Devon continue to receive the care and support they need.” 

The work is part of Devon County Council’s coronavirus (Covid-19) response.