Concerns raised over plans to cut Devon health services by 'staggering' £255million

Severe concerns have emerged over moves by Devon’s health service to target a “staggering” £255 million in savings.
The county’s health service has been under immense pressure in recent years due to being in a form of special measures, which includes financial issues.
In a bid to put itself on firmer foundations, a huge cost-cutting exercise has been launched that has sparked fear from one of Devon’s most senior officials.
Donna Manson, the chief executive of Devon County Council, said she had “real concerns” about the impact such large cuts would have on the NHS, as well as the potential negative effect on services that the health service and the county council collaborate on.
“What’s not outlined in the NHS report is the fact this is a huge cut in personnel and leadership, and I have real concerns,” she said.
“The reality is there are going to be fewer people for us to engage with, and getting Devon’s voice across will be more challenging.”
The county council has responsibility for adult and children’s social care, meaning it frequently needs to liaise with the health service and combine efforts to provide care for vulnerable residents.
“We’re in a position where we could end up funding the health element as there could be no contribution from [the health service], so we have to outline that as a serious, serious issue,” she added.
Councillor Jess Bailey (Independent, Otter Valley), who chairs the health and adult care scrutiny committee, also expressed shock at the scale of cuts, which are equivalent to nearly eight per cent of the NHS Devon budget.
“It is a staggering amount of money and it is not clear how that translates into cuts,” she said, addressing the committee.
“It’s a vast amount, but where can we see how this will affect our services and how it will affect the way we work in an integrated way with the NHS?”
Councillor Andy Ketchin (Green Party, St David’s & Haven Banks), who works as a doctor, said Devon was one of the “health hotspots” for elderly care.
“We have the second-highest presentation rate of elderly care patients, and we are only rivalled by Dorset nationally, but there’s a double challenge as we are an area of growth, with Exeter being one of the fastest-growing cities in the country,” he said.
“What I’d like to hear is, if there are absolute cuts, where this leaves us benchmarked given the disproportionate requirements the county faces, as people don’t retire to London, they come to Devon, and our costs reflect that and so we need to understand that in a national context.” 
A spokesperson for the NHS acknowledged the targeted cuts were “absolutely unprecedented”, but he stressed they would be across all of Devon’s three acute hospital trusts, its community providers and the integrated care board.
Proposed changes to the way ICBs are structured means that some savings will be realised here. The Devon ICB, and Cornwall and Isles of Scilly ICB are set to be ‘clustered’ together, meaning that while both will continue to exist, they will be overseen by a single board, leadership team and staffing structure.
The NHS spokesperson added that there were a “great deal of productivity gains” that had been found to help it make the best use of its services while reducing costs.
He added that prior to any official decisions to make cuts or changes, NHS Devon would liaise with the county council.
Ms Manson urged the new board of the clustered Devon and Cornwall ICBs to quickly engage with the council about the potential cuts.
As part of the targeted £255 million of savings, just £13.9 million were unidentified at the time NHS Devon submitted its proposals to NHS England.
Ms Manson stressed that the situation in adult and children’s social care could already be “extremely painful and challenging” and that the NHS “couldn’t take that much money away, at pace, without the impact being quite severe”.
“These are unprecedented levels of savings and I’m concerned, and I would welcome the opportunity for discussions,” she said.