Sally Allen: Fight to save cardiac unit far from over

I am sure that others who have been active in our Heart Campaign, to ensure that we keep our fully operational and first-class Cardiac Unit open, thought that they were helping when they wrote that there was a dramatic U turn by the ICB and that people power had won the day.

Sadly WRONG. 

These misleading comments led numerous residents to believe that everything was now OK and that the fight was over. This unfortunately is very far from the truth. Now is the time to press very hard indeed on the accelerator.

At the Heart Campaign’s meeting on Friday evening at the Hampton Hilton, the latest shocking situation was explained in detail by two of our dedicated Consultant Interventional Cardiologists, Milad Hassoon and Dirk Felmeden. 

Most of the audience were unaware of the seriousness of our situation and said that they had seen nothing in the press! 

With the massive changes in the media and how the population in general receive the news, this means that it is vital that we all have to raise our game. 

By which I mean that we must tell all our friends and neighbours, those that use social media involve all your contacts and those who have links with any media, particularly national – please get our message out there as we are now at a highly critical point, the outcome of which will either save or lose lives.

It was made clear that the plan of the ICB (Integrated Care Board), part of the NHS, is obsessed with their ‘Case for Change’ at the expense of patients. 

Out of 68 cardiac centres in the UK, the Torbay Hospital Cardiac Unit is considered to be one of the very best in the country, in fact a centre of excellence. 

In their wisdom, the ICB’s aim is to merge our first-class facility into the Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital’s Cardiac Unit, which is under-performing, with a long waiting list and with 46 patients having died whilst waiting for treatment. 

This clearly makes no sense to those of us whose lives depend on receiving treatment within 30-minutes of the symptoms becoming evident. What is proposed is of no operational or financial benefit. 

Dismantling a well-performing model to further overwhelm an under-performing model makes zero sense in any business, but this is using people’s lives as currency!

We are all very well aware that the drive to Exeter takes much longer than the ICB seem to think (20 minutes). Telegraph Hill was even closed last week due to an accident – so there will be little point even phoning for an ambulance as you would be dead long before your arrival at the over-stretched RD&E. 

Maybe one of the ICB board members should try getting to the RD&E from Dartmouth or Brixham on an average day in traffic! Added to this, the ambulance which is allotted to take you there would then be out of commission in the Torbay area for a number of hours, so unable to attend any other emergencies in our area.

The Torbay & South Devon NHS Foundation Trust, chaired by a former town planner Chris Balch said that the main reason the Trust hadn’t been as forceful as it might have been in voicing the fears of the cardiologists at the Torbay, was that it was not in a good place financially. The RD&E Hospital on the other hand is apparently well funded. 

Mr Balch added that it was extremely expensive for the Trust to bring in locums or other medical expertise. In which case there is a perfect solution if there is a precedent of the NHS paying for expertise.

The Torbay Cardiac Unit has already taken over 300 of Exeter’s patients to help to relieve their waiting lists and personally, I would have thought that exploring and developing this option has to be the best route to take the strain off the Exeter unit.

My immediate thought is surely we can develop a win win situation instead of the potentially fatal route the ICB are keen to go down.

 If we have the excellence in the Torbay Cardiac Unit, why on earth can’t we charge the RD&E for our cardiologists treating their patients? This would immediately help with their long waiting lists and, in return help our Trust financially.

We don’t have long to ensure that we keep our full acute services at the Torbay Hospital. The ICB complete their draft plans on July 23 and then present to the NHS board on July 31, critically this leaves no time for reflection, discussion or debate with the public. No doubt part of their overall plan and they will continue to act behind closed doors.

 This gives us only a couple of weeks to save this critical service. And make no mistake, if the Cardiac Unit goes so will a lot of the other services as not many doctors will operate without a cardiac facility to hand, as a general anaesthetic comes with many risks. I am sure that you don’t want the Torbay Hospital to end up as a cottage hospital facility!

So, time is of the essence, and we all have to do anything and everything we can to retain our Cardiac Unit. We have created a ‘Heart Campaign’ Facebook page, so please look at that and join so that we can keep you up-to-date on all the plans of action. 

Also, if there is anything you want to suggest that we can do, please let us know. Someone mentioned a march, and if you think that might be well supported, get in touch. 

You can post your thoughts and ideas on the Facebook page. If you don’t do social media, please ask a friend to help you and post for you.

In short, a healthcare provider should prioritise patient care and any dilution of the service will cost lives. The Torbay Cardiac Unit is being penalised for its excellence whilst the RD&E offers a poor service. Our cardiologists and our residents shouldn’t be punished for our local centre of excellence being so good. After all, are the lives of those who live in Exeter more valuable, than those who live in the Torbay area?

In the meantime, the next public meeting is on Friday, July 18 at 5.30pm at the Livermead House Hotel. Please come if you can.