Kevin Foster has today reacted to claims by local Liberal Democrats that plans which could have seen heart services moved out of Torbay Hospital have been dropped
Claims of “victory” in the campaign to stop cardiac services being moved from Torbay Hospital needs to be treated more cautiously.
Despite a media headline saying plans to move heart services have been dropped, the article does not contain any confirmation from the NHS Devon Integrated Care Board (ICB) about dropping plans to move services more widely. It is not even clear whether the journalist who wrote the article approached the ICB for comment to verify the claims made in the article and there is no quote from the Heart Campaign itself.
This is what the ICB actually said:
“Next week, our board will be asked to consider a recommendation to bring the case for change for cardiology and cardiovascular services into our wider health and care planning, including our five-year commissioning plan and the neighbourhood health model we are beginning to implement.”
This is more in line with the position previously announced by the ICB back in June 2025. At that time the NHS Devon Integrated Care Board (ICB) announced it was withdrawing controversial plans for a “test and learn” of taking heart attack victims from Torbay and South Devon to Exeter, rather than Torbay Hospital, for emergency PPCI treatment.
Instead, NHS Devon indicated it would instead draw up and consider a “case for change” which would cover “the whole cardiology pathway in Devon”. Whilst it was welcome to hear the original proposal was withdrawn, the prospect of a case for change was met with concern, not least against the backdrop of Torbay Hospital’s rebuild having been put back for a decade.
The case for change being put into a wider piece of work on health and care planning is not a cause for celebration itself. A wider piece of work could also be used to recommend services are consolidated in Exeter and Plymouth in the way a stand along piece might have."
