From a Correspondent:
Just reopen the beds in the Community Hospitals for stepdown care. This would make more beds available in acute Hospitals like the RD&E. Although there is a shortage of nurses, many of whom have left due to unbearable work pressure, it is possible that many would like to work in the more intimate environment or our community hospitals. This is what most people want, and would be a useful step towards care needs. For example, Ottery St. Mary hospital used to have a designated “domestic” room where patients recovering from acute procedures could regain their strength and confidence before returning to independence at home.
East Devon Watch 
Exactly,they should never have been closed,then there would not be this crisis!
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Agree with the above, have been saying the same ever since our community hospitals were closed ( Seaton and Axminster) it is what the local communities want, it makes sense to reopen the community hospitals and utilise them fully.
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Correct me if I am wrong but were not former Independent county councillors Claire Wright and Martin Shaw two of the several, supported by public demos, who argued strongly that this should be so, that the hospitals and beds should be retained?
My recollection is that they were fiercely opposed by most Tories headed by the chair of Health Scrutiny at the time, Sara Randal Johnson .
DCC’s website says that Randall Johnson is still chair of that committee.
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Of course Sara Randall Johnson is another councillor allegedly protected by police disinterest in the not too distant past. In her case over expenditure of a large amount of our money on a completely inappropriate and conflicted legal action. Private Eye found time for her but Devon’s finest could not.
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Yes correct. Martin Shaw and Claire Wight fought very hard to save our hospitals, along with many of the local community who all worked tirelessly to keep our hospital services and beds. It seemed predetermined that the hospitals were going to close, meetings were manipulated lies were told. There was no genuine and transparent consultation. You are also correct in saying that Sara RJ was Chair of that committee.
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Its right to point the finger of blame but don’t lets allow Paul Diviani, former leader of EDDC (under Tories), to miss out.
His own Council voted for him to communicate to the Health secretary, asking him to reverse the decision to close small hospitals. He failed to do that, his excuse being that he’d had to represent the opinions and votes of other councils within Devon. The revelation that he had done no such thing, led to a vote of no confidence in him.
True to form, his Tory chums at EDDC voted in force to enable him to stay. One can only assume they’re all sufficiently well-heeled to have private health care plans in place.
Thankfully, Diviani did stand down shortly after that but we wonder if that’s because he saw trouble of a very different nature brewing.
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Angie exactly right! The EDDC Tory councillors betrayed us when it came time to choose between Paul Diviani and the people they were supposed to be representing. Any trust I had in Tories then ( which was not much) disappeared and has not returned.
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