Sally Allen: We cannot back down in fight to save cardiac unit

Stupidly I went along to the council’s Overview & Scrutiny Committee meeting with the Integrated Care Board, hopeful that good sense would prevail over the potential closure of the exemplary Cardiac Unit at Torbay Hospital.

How wrong could I have been? The situation is far more serious than I, and many friends and colleagues, could have imagined.

I clearly understand the ICB’s laudable aim to educate the population of the UK in preventative care and to get everyone eating healthily and exercising. 

However, it takes generations to change societal behaviour and even then, there will be vast numbers of the population, no matter how fit they are, who will suffer from coronary disease and other heart related problems from which they can quickly die if not treated within the golden 20-minute period. 

Even the super healthy can suddenly suffer heart problems with no prior symptoms, even footballers. Do you remember Fabrice Muamba (England/Bolton Wanderers) in 2012? He collapsed during an FA Cup match vs. Tottenham. His heart stopped for 78 minutes but he survived after CPR and defibrillation. 

Also, Christian Eriksen (Denmark/Inter Milan/Manchester United) who collapsed during Euro 2020. He was revived on the field with CPR and defibrillation and managed to return to professional football with an implanted defibrillator. 

Just two of many examples. We all need Cardiac support at the earliest opportunity no matter how young or old we are, and it is not necessarily a lifestyle choice that creates that need.

To say I was deeply shocked and appalled by the attitude of the two doctors is an understatement, Dr Peter Collins and Dr Hemsley, sent to the meeting to represent the ICB and answer the Committee’s and the public’s questions. 

It is important to note, that the public’s questions, of which very few referred to the supposed U-turn of the test and learn trial and concerned the future of the impact of any change to our hospital, were sent to them prior to the meeting and they didn’t mention or refer to one of them. 

As doctors and Medical Directors, of the ICB and the Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital respectively (so no bias there then!) they are surely not adhering to the Hippocratic Oath they took when qualifying as a doctor, whereby they swore to save life wherever and whenever possible.

Obviously working in Exeter, the outcome of their decisions will not affect them one jot. Lucky them. It will be catastrophic for those living directly outside the RD&E’s direct catchment area.

In the news last week, it was reported that Exeter could absorb 39 towns and villages in a mammoth expansion plan. Add to this the potential closure of two out of the five hospitals which serve Devon and Cornwall, and we are all heading for a dystopian society with only the survival of the fittest and those in the right postcode. The two doctors at the meeting are unlikely to die from cardiac problems because they are in the centre of the hub for treatment if their plan goes ahead. 

So why should they worry about us, and clearly, they don’t. How can they possibly justify the lives of people in Exeter as being more valuable than those living in Torbay, or even further afield?

Those making the ultimate decision of course, mostly live and work in London and have numerous acute hospitals to choose from and no rural roads and vast distances to negotiate to receive care. Lucky them too.

The ICB’s thought process has nothing to do with saving lives, which is the whole purpose of becoming a doctor. It is amazing how their thinking changes when they become administrators. 

The passion from the public attending the meeting was palpable with people calling out after dismissive statements from Dr Collins “but we will die if the plan goes ahead” only to be told to be quiet! 

The two doctors looked uncomfortable in their seats but remained completely unmoved, looking straight ahead at all times so as not to engage in eye contact with a member of the public.

No doubt I am being too cynical, but could it have anything to do with the fact that the only three Labour MPs in Devon are in Exeter and Plymouth, which is where the only two hospitals that are proposed to receive extra funding for expansion are situated?

The most important quote from the meeting, already reported but I make no apology for reiterating it. Cllr Martin Brook asked: “Will the proposal that was tabled in May come back again?” Dr Peter Collins, NHS Devon’s chief medical officer, answered: “Possibly. I can’t say no to that.” The fact that he cannot say NO to that is shattering, because that is the removal of the emergency Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (pPCi) service at Torbay Hospital.

All the data quoted and in the public domain, confirms that the Torbay area is in far more need than the Exeter area for cardiac treatment and support, as we are in the top 20 per cvent most deprived and vulnerable areas in the UK. Exeter is not. Possibly as their average age is 35 years old and substantially less than that in Torbay.

The overall outcome of this meeting was less than satisfactory and it is clear that most of the decisions that will affect our lives dramatically, will be made behind closed doors.

The one uplifting outcome of the meeting was to hear every member of the Council present, speak robustly in support of the need to, at all costs, keep our very successful Torbay Hospital with its acute status. 

A united council is not something we often witness, and yet it is so important, and something I hope we will see more often in the future.

Losing our fight to retain our Cardiac Unit is not an option, and I think we need to start to investigate the possibility of a judicial review, and ultimately the council and the community taking out a ‘class action’ against the ICB if they continue with their dreadful plans. 

No doubt we could also go to the European Court of Human Rights too, as surely we have a ‘right to live’ by receiving the best medical attention available, which will give us the best possible outcome. 

With the council in full support and the whole community fighting as one, this is one battle none of us can afford to lose; so please come and take part in our next meeting at the English Riviera Centre at 5pm for 5.30pm on Tuesday August 26 to discuss how best to fight for our right to keep our Acute hospital.