CAMPAIGNERS fighting for healthcare services in south Devon have called on the Prime Minister to step in.

The Heart Campaign began amid fears local health providers were planning to move crucial emergency cardiac care services from Torbay Hospital to Exeter.

Supporters said lives would be lost as a result of the crucial extra time spent travelling.

Devon’s NHS integrated care board then amended its plans in the face of the protests, but campaign leaders fear there will still be changes, and the hospital could be down-graded in future.

In a letter to Sir Keir Starmer, campaign chairman Susie Colley writes: ‘Many residents, patients, carers and clinicians are increasingly concerned about the future of acute healthcare services at Torbay Hospital.

‘Our campaign is not opposed to NHS modernisation, service improvement or the development of more efficient ways of working.

‘We fully recognise the significant financial and workforce pressures facing the NHS. However, we believe any reconfiguration of services must be transparent, clinically justified, properly consulted upon and demonstrably improve patient access and outcomes.’

She says supporters, hundreds of whom gathered for a recent public meeting, are not only concerned about cardiac services but also ‘a gradual reduction’ in the role of the hospital.

‘We ask how moving services further away from the communities they serve can improve access for elderly residents, vulnerable patients, carers and those without private transport?’ she writes.

‘Residents are entitled to understand how future healthcare needs will be met and how neighbouring hospitals in Exeter and Plymouth could absorb additional demand when they already face significant pressures.’

Her letter calls on ministers to ensure ‘full transparency’ over the long-term future of Torbay Hospital and an independent assessment of the impact on patient access, cancer pathways, emergency care and healthcare outcomes.

She goes on: ‘The people of South Devon are not seeking special treatment.

‘They are seeking reassurance they will continue to have reasonable access to safe, timely and effective acute healthcare close to the communities they live in.’