As you will have been aware, there has been a lot of publicity about the possible loss of Exmouth Hospital beds, with several opportunities to feedback via the CCG public consultations. The consultation is now closed and we await their conclusions, though the resounding opinion from those who attended is that Exmouth does not wish to lose any beds. This directly affects the St Johns Court Campaign as we have heard from Devon Partnership Trust (DPT), that the only ’viable’ alternative venue to deliver the Community Mental Health service from would be Exmouth Hospital and we strongly suspect that will only be possible if we lose the beds. So, we have a double fight on our hands – we do not want to lose hospital beds OR our mental health service!!
The campaign group has been working hard, meeting with DPT, with local, district and county councils, and with Hugo Swire MP, and raising awareness of the petition, which now has over 1500 signatures, including local GPs. We are calling on DPT to be transparent to their stakeholders in their decision making process. We will see what the result of the CCG consultations are but with Rethink facing cuts to their service, the Crisis Team overstretched, and a waiting list to access mental health support, we must do all we can to keep St Johns Court. Exmouth needs more mental health support – not less, not squeezed into Exmouth hospital, and not based in Exeter.
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