OKEHAMPTON Community Hospital has avoided cuts after doctors agreed to consolidate overnight in-patient beds at Eastern Devon's community hospitals.

Community hospital beds in Eastern Devon will be consolidated as a platform for further review and reform of community services, aiming to treat more people in their own home where it is safe and appropriate to do so.

It will mean the number of community hospital in-patient units in Eastern Devon will reduce from ten to seven. Community hospitals at Axminster, Crediton and Ottery St Mary will no longer have overnight in-patient beds, although Ottery St Mary Hospital will have 15 overnight stroke rehabilitation beds for now.

Okehampton Community Hospital remains unchanged, keeping its 16 beds. The situation at Moretonhampstead Hospital is also the same as before with no in-patient beds and the building being turned into a health and social care hub.

The decision was taken at NHS Northern, Eastern and Western Devon Clinical Commissioning Group's governing body meeting on July 16.

The chairman of the Friends of Okehampton Community Hospital, Martin Perry, said that the clinical commissioning group's decision to keep all of Okehampton's inpatient beds was a 'huge relief'.

He said: 'We have spoken to the Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust and two of us did firmly make the point that Okehampton could not do with fewer inpatient beds than it has now.

'They are in constant use. Our hospital's beds are very much needed for this remote locality. It is a very rural area and people rely on Okehampton Hospital having these beds.

'We are very supportive of the treatment of people in their homes wherever possible, but in many cases that is just not possible. It means that having a facility like Okehampton Hospital in a locality like ours is absolutely vital. The service provided by the excellent staff at the hospital is as crucial as it has always been. The CCG has made the right decision to leave Okehampton with as many beds as it currently has.'

None of the community hospitals will close as a result of the decision. Health and social care hubs with a range of outpatient services, day surgery and other health and social care services will be developed at hospitals without inpatient beds.

Dr David Jenner, a GP from Cullompton and chair of the Eastern Locality of NHS NEW Devon CCG, said: 'This will improve the resilience of care at our community hospitals in the face of financial and workforce challenges.

'We are looking to continually improve services to support people in their local communities whether they are cared for at home or in hospital and this is one step forward on that journey.

'We want to thank all the local people and organisations who have been involved throughout the development of the plans over the last couple of years. We held over 30 public meetings or drop-in sessions and have taken their comments into consideration when making our decision today.

'Of course we understand that some people will always want to have community beds in their own area and this decision may disappoint them but making sure everyone has the same level of access to services is very important.

'Over the last few years the hospital provider Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust has had to temporarily close some community hospital inpatient units due to staffing issues. Consolidating from 10 to seven units means we will have much more robust staffing at our hospitals in the future.

'The process in which we developed the changes agreed today will now be considered at the Devon Health and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee meeting on September 14. The timeline for implementing the changes will depend on the outcomes and feedback from this scrutiny meeting.'