Good news! The Torbay and South Devon NHS Trust and local clinical commissioning group have said that all the functions of the health and well-being centre are up and running in Dartmouth – just not yet all in the same place.

Residents will recall that Dartmouth and Kingswear Hospital provided nursing beds with 24-hour qualified nursing care and X-ray facilities before it was closed. Perhaps the trust and CCG could tell us exactly where these facilities, previously so easily accessible, are now located.

We have to wait for another three years before the promised health and well-being centre is up and running, including the four nursing beds providing 24-hour qualified nursing care that formed part of the River View proposal.

Since the current unsatisfactory healthcare arrangements for Dartmouth were created by the trust and CCG’s decision to close our hospital prematurely, we assume these ‘shadowy’ organisations are now working on an interim solution to mitigate the resulting difficulties they have caused.

Would they please let us know what travel arrangements they are making to allow residents of Dartmouth and surrounding villages to easily attend X-ray appointments and visit their loved ones in nursing beds now that these have been ‘farmed out’ to places that are not easily accessible from Dartmouth?

David Leonard

Thurlestone Gardens

Dartmouth