League of Friends pledges to ‘explore every avenue’ to bring them back

Seaton and District Hospital League of Friends has expressed its dismay at the loss of all its inpatient beds.

Speaking after the closure plans began last week chairman Dr. Mark Welland told the Herald: “We would like to express our deep gratitude to the many dedicated staff who have provided such a high quality of care to patients over the past 29 years, and also our sincere thanks to the numerous volunteers who have worked on the wards to support the patients and nurses.

“The League remains steadfast in its belief that beds are a necessary resource in Seaton, and will continue to explore every avenue that might lead to the reopening of the inpatient service in Seaton Hospital.

“At the same time, we would like to emphasise the ongoing work that will be taking place in Seaton Hospital - whilst it is true that no inpatient beds will be open, there are many more activities carried out at our hospital.

“These include the out-patient clinics which will continue to run, including rheumatology, ear nose and throat, audiology, spinal assessment, and general medicine clinics.

“The ever busy Seaton Hospital physiotherapy department will be continuing at full speed.

“Alongside these the hospital will continue to function as a base for community teams, including the rehabilitation team, speech and language therapy, community nursing, school nurse and health visitor teams, and the complex care team.

“There is now an opportunity for those hospital resources left under utilised by the bed closures to be put to new uses, and the Seaton and District Hospital League of Friends is currently active in establishing which services might be added to the above list to best serve the local community.

“The League continues to support the Seaton Friends Hospiscare at Home service, which will now be more vital than ever, with no opportunity to use hospital beds for end of life care. The Seaton Friends Hospiscare@Home service is entirely funded by the league, and receives no funding from NHS sources, even as the NHS support for end of life care locally is pared back. The League is very thankful to everyone who continues to support us, and to allow our work to continue.”