St Barnabas Community Hospital

Background

St Barnabas Community Hospital is owned by NHS Property Services, and leased to Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (CFT). CFT provides adult community services in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. The hospital’s minor injury unit (MIU) closed in December 2016 to focus staff on the inpatient wards. Nurses from the ward staffed the unit. There were 455 attendances at the MIU in the 12 months before it closed. In February 2017 the inpatient beds temporarily closed. This was to support safe staffing levels at Liskeard Hospital. In the previous 12 months, 209 people were admitted to an inpatient bed at St Barnabas.

What’s happened since?

The NHS has been meeting regularly with a group of local people. They include Cornwall Council and town councillors, patient representatives, GPs, the League of Friends and other NHS organisations. Together they looked at the needs of the community and how services can respond to those needs.

Relocation of community teams

In 2019 several community teams including health visitors, school nurses and speech and language therapists moved into St Barnabas. This allowed some development work to be undertaken at the surgery. This means that more than 70 staff members from across children’s and adult’s community teams work from St Barnabas Hospital.
That has helped to improve coordination of care across teams. Physiotherapy and respiratory clinics are run at St Barnabas as well as consultant-led clinics from University Hospital Plymouth.

What’s happening now?

In October 2017 a workshop held in Saltash Guildhall involved the NHS, charities and voluntary organisations.

The aim was to:

• offer staff an opportunity to hear about each other’s work
• build on developing positive working relationships to promote improved communication
• coordination of care across teams and services

The event was used to discuss examples of individuals who had complex care needs to consider. It also looked at how creating broader solutions in the wider community may help to deliver improved care and support.

Events

Drop-in sessions were held in Saltash to give people an opportunity to:

• air their views
• learn more about the work to review the community services provision in the area
• learn what this could mean for the future of St Barnabas Community Hospital

The sessions were held on:

• 8 October 2019 at Saltash Guildhall
• 17 March 2019 at Saltash Leisure Centre

The sessions were held as part of ongoing engagement work. 19 members of public attended.

We listened to people’s views about the health and care services provided across Saltash and what was important to them. It was valuable to hold these events to meet people who had not yet had an opportunity to attend a community workshop.

Key themes raised by attendees

• Ensuring there is adequate public transport to services (current bus route to Derriford takes 1.5 hours each way).
• Lack of adequate public transport increases the risk of inappropriate ambulance call out.
• Integration of services where possible on the same site.
• Some expressed a preference for a more modern facility.
• Recognition that healthcare funding is limited.
• Views that the hospital did not meet the health and care needs of people in the 21st century.
• Disappointment that the hospital was still closed.
• Exploring the possibility of the community using parts of the building if not reinstated as a hospital.
• Importance of retaining any money from disposal of the building in the local area.
• Access to the building, both in terms of parking and then gaining access if in a wheelchair is a challenge.
• Consider how this feeds into the local development plans and the impact of new housing developments.