New Hospital Programme review

Published: 26 September 2024

Torbay Hospital is one of over forty hospitals in the New Hospital Programme. The government is currently conducting a review of the programme and we welcome the assurance from the government of their commitment to the programme.

Adel Jones, Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Strategy Officer, said: “Parts of our estate at Torbay Hospital are some of the oldest in the country.

“Due to the age and condition of our estate we have robust mitigation and management plans in place to minimise the impact on patient care and patient and staff experience. However, the issues remain a recurrent risk until we have our new hospital.”

The condition of the estate can directly affect waiting times for treatment and care as well as patient and staff experience. Earlier this year, the ENT department was completely flooded by a sewage leak which meant that all outpatient activity had to be cancelled for a week.

Adel added: “While we are planning for the new hospital, we continue to make improvements to current facilities.

“In the past two years we have opened our new £15 million acute medical unit, a £2.8 million radiotherapy unit, a £4.99million endoscopy suite and two new £15 million theatres for eye surgery and day surgery.

“These new facilities are helping us to reduce waiting times and improve patient care, experience and outcomes. Our endoscopy service has reduced the number of people on their waiting list by over 95% since the new suite opened which is a fantastic achievement meaning local people are getting earlier diagnosis and better outcomes.”

“We will continue to work with the government with the aim of securing the funding we need to build a new hospital for the people of Torbay and South Devon, fit for modern healthcare services. In the meantime, our people will continue to work hard to deliver the best possible care to all those who use our services.”

Caroline Cozens, Director of Capital Development said: “Our top priority is keeping our patients and staff safe and we’re using the available funds to make sure this happens.

“Our staff work hard manage the immediate issues, but the steps we’ve taken to reduce risks are temporary and we very much need our new hospital.”

Following the announcement of the New Hospital Programme Review, as outlined by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 29 July 2024, the Terms of Reference for the review have now been agreed with the Chief Secretary of HM Treasury. The paper details which schemes will form part of the review and includes Torbay Hospital.