NHS chiefs have apologised for announcing a decision to temporarily transfer hospital beds from Axminster to Seaton hospital without public consultation and provoking "confusion" among the community.
Within weeks of the announcement in October, the Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust has now made a U-turn on its announcement and halted its decision to temporarily move the inpatient services in January, and has launched a four week public consultation over whether the transfer should take place.
Both Axminster and Seaton hospitals currently provide 10 in-patient beds and a range of other services. The plans were that after the temporary merger, Seaton would host one, 18-bedded inpatient unit to serve both communities.
The trust took the decision in order to resolve "significant safety risks" posed by having one unsupported and unsupervised registered nurse looking after up to 10 patients on each ward.
The trust has also identified a further risk in that because of the national shortage of registered nurses, it is overly reliant on agency nurses and is often on the cusp of not being able to sustain the nursing rota at Axminster and Seaton.
The trust wants to ensure the in-patient service is "safe, resilient and consistent" over winter during which time demand is higher.
But now, Dr Alison Diamond, chief executive has admitted that the announcement prompted a "great deal of confusion" about the proposals and the trust "needed to do more to involve people in the decision".
"We acted in good faith when making our initial decision," she said. "On behalf of the trust I would like to apologise to the community and encourage people to participate in our consultation on whether temporarily merging inpatient services at Seaton is the best course of action."
The consultation is designed to help local people understand patient safety risks and provide an opportunity to make suggestions and have their say.
The trust is also commissioning an independent review of the safety of staffing in Axminster Community Hospital.
The consultation ends on December 30.
The consultation paper is available on the trust website, www.northdevonhealth.nhs.uk/consultation and hard copies can be collected from the receptions of Axminster and Seaton hospitals.
People can contribute to the consultation by emailing, ndht.contactus@nhs.net or writing to: Dr Alison Diamond, Chief Executive, Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust, Raleigh Park, Barnstaple, Devon, EX31 4JB.
Consultation meetings are taking place at Axminster Hospital from 2pm to 4pm on the following Mondays in December, 8, 15, 22 and 29.
The consultation is entirely separate from the North, East and West Devon Clinical Commissioning Group's community hospital consultation, which is proposing that the beds shut permanently at Axminster along with those at Ottery St Mary and Crediton and Ottery's Minor Injuries Unit.
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