DARTMOUTH must not allow its community hospital to close without alternatives being put in place, say town councillors.

The council has pledged to do everything it can to save health and social care care provision in the town.

But it also recognises that possible changes may be inevitable and the town must listen to proposals being forward by health chiefs which may not be ‘a done deal’.

A public meeting to discuss the plans is being held at 1pm on Wednesday, May 18, at Townstal Community Hall, when a representative from the South Devon and Torbay Clinical Commissioning Group will be present to speak and answer questions.

It is also hoped a public meeting will be held at Dartmouth Academy later in the month.

Public consultation on proposals to close Dartmouth and three other South Devon hospitals came a step closer last Thursday when the CCG’s governing board gave the go ahead to ask the public’s views on plans to change bed-based hospital care to health and wellbeing teams that support people within their communities.

If NHS England, which leads the National Health Service, gives its go ahead next month, a 12-week public consultation will be launched over proposals to replace Dartmouth, Paignton, Ashburton and Buckfastleigh and Bovey Tracey hospitals with community facilities designed to provide care closer to patients’ homes.

The new approach would see £3.9m invested in community services, and health and social care staff working more closely in new town-based health and wellbeing centres with the local voluntary sector. Minor injury units would be reduced from seven to three – in Newton Abbot, Totnes and Dawlish – but they will be open seven days a week, with more consistent opening hours and X-ray facilities.

Dr Sarah Wollaston, Dart­mouth MP and chairman of the Commons Health Select Committee, wants to see more details of proposed replacement services to be included in the consultation for the public to be able to give a proper opinion.

Cllr Steve Smith told a special meeting of the town council that there was no reason why public opposition couldn’t change the outcome.

‘It is not a done deal,’ he said. ‘There is a strong case to fight for here.’

And Cllr Francis Hawke said he believed ‘out on a limb Dartmouth’ could put up a good case for keeping its minor injuries unit.

It was vital details of the proposal were known and as many people were involved in the consultation as soon as possible, he said.

Cllr Tony Fyson described the proposals as ‘an irrational diagnosis and inadequate prescription’.

He said he accepted the hospital was problematic but claimed some of the assumptions that under pinned the report were ‘disgraceful’ and no more than ‘fiddling of the figures’.

And he said to extend reliance on the voluntary sector, such as Dartmouth Caring, in the fabric of heath care in the town was both wrong and risky without spending on medical care.

Cllr David Gent said the town had to do more than simply oppose the proposals. It had come up with alternatives.

Mayor Rob Lyon said the council would fight for what the people wanted but those thoughts must be made clear at the public consultation.

Cllr Richard Rendle said it would be a sad day for the lower town to lose its hospital, clinic and doctors surgery but the NHS could not carry on as it was, decisions had to be made and they had to ‘make the best’ of what they could get.

But Cllr Iris Pritchard said she would be ‘thrilled’ at the opportunity of having a designated umbrella health centre with associated services relocated to Townstal for many young families at the top of the hill.

‘The town is dying and the future is in Townstal,’ she said.

Health chiefs have put a value of £1.6m on the site of Dartmouth hospital on South Embankment – a price which many feel is significantly below market value.

Dartmouth and Kingswear Society is also looking at the possibility of getting part of the facade of the hospital building listed.

Dr Nick Roberts, the CCG’s chief clinical officer, said: ‘If NHS England approves the proposals, we will host a series of public meetings across South Devon and Torbay, where people will be able to hear the proposals in detail and feedback to us their views.

‘People can give us their thoughts on where we are as a health and care community now and what changes are possible to make our services sustainable for the future.

‘As I have said before, these proposals are about people rather than buildings. The local NHS feels that, in terms of general community care, people should only be admitted to hospital when medically necessary, and I think most people would agree with that.

‘We want to create services that are more effective, closer to home, affordable and, in terms of MIUs, offer a real alternative to A&E, which will be very important for South Devon and Torbay.’

If the proposals are approved by NHS England, dates for the public meetings will be announced and full details of the proposals will be published on the CCG’s website.

A public questionnaire will also be provided, and the independent Healthwatch organisations in Devon and Torbay will collate feedback.