Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey expressed concern over the state of the NHS and water quality on a visit to Teignmouth this week.

The trip was Ed Davey’s first visit to the Newton Abbot constituency since the general election.

‘The NHS and care are top priorities for this parliament and beyond that and beyond that,’ he told Torbay and South Devon NHS Trust bosses on a visit to Teignmouth Hospital, which has been under threat of closure since 2018.

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey visits Teignbridge. Ed with Martin Wrigley MP at Teignmouth Hospital
Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey visits Teignbridge. Ed with Martin Wrigley MP at Teignmouth Hospital (Steve Pope/MDA)

‘The last ten years have been an utter disaster. There has been no stability and without stability you can’t plan anything,’ he added.

While at Teignmouth Hospital, Mr Davey heard from staff, volunteers and service users from Volunteering in Health about how being based in the same building as healthcare facilities enables the charity to act quickly to provide help to those in need and prevent them having to go into hospital or having to access other services.

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey visits Teignbridge. Ed Davey with Newton Abbot MP Martin Wrigley at Teignmouth Hospital with Volunteer in Health trustee Richard Ash and Newton Abbot Community Transport's Keith Walter and his wife Gaynor
Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey visits Teignbridge. Ed Davey with Newton Abbot MP Martin Wrigley at Teignmouth Hospital with Volunteer in Health trustee Richard Ash and Newton Abbot Community Transport's Keith Walter and his wife Gaynor (Steve Pope/MDA)

‘Our biggest asset is being based in Teignmouth Hospital and we were supposed to be going into the (now canned) health and wellbeing centre,’ said Volunteering in Health general manager Julia Street. ‘Why this works is because as soon as we spot a potential issue we can go down the corridor and speak directly to the healthcare providers,’ she added.

‘We’re saving the NHS money but it’s difficult to prove as the impact of a lot of what we do is quite intangible,’ Julia noted.

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey visits Teignbridge. Ed Davey listens with concern to the fears of Volunteering in Health volunteers at Teignmouth Hospital
Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey visits Teignbridge. Ed Davey listens with concern to the fears of Volunteering in Health volunteers at Teignmouth Hospital (Steve Pope/MDA)

Volunteering in Health team lead Jeanette Osmond further explained: ‘We’re great at signposting, knowing what’s going on, connecting, supporting and empowering people to move forward.’

Mr Davey agreed saying ‘If we spent money on organisations like Volunteering in Health we would save huge amounts of money.’

However, he was optimistic that the Liberal Democrats could turn the country’s healthcare crisis around by focusing on two priority areas: primary care such through the NHS and GPs; and through social and family support through organisations such as Volunteering in Health.

The issue of healthcare provision in Teignmouth was further raised by Newton Abbot MP Martin Wrigley. Teignmouth Hospital is marked for closure and plans for a new health and wellbeing centre in the centre of the town were scrapped in the summer. ‘We need to find a solution quickly,’ Mr Wrigley said.

Walkabout - Lib Dem leader Ed Davey and Newton Abbot MP Martin Wrigley in Teignmouth
Walkabout - Lib Dem leader Ed Davey and Newton Abbot MP Martin Wrigley in Teignmouth (StevePope/MDA)

At Teignmouth Hospital Ed Davey also spoke to local NHS bosses about the new hospital programme, which he described as ‘shambolic’. Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust chair Professor Chris Balch spoke about how thecurrent conditions at Torbay Hospital, which has a £60m maintenance backlog, are causing an increase in hospital-borne infections. He recognised that ‘there is a fine balance between investment in acute medicine, but we still need investment into the community.’

‘We’re trying to turn this ship, but we also need more resources to go into the community,’ Professor Balch said.

Ed Davey also visited Teignmouth’s back beach and vowed to ‘hold water companies to account’ and ‘not let them off the hook’ after hearing residents’ concerns about water quality and sewage.

Stuart Reynolds from Friends of the River Teign outlined issues over water testing and expressed concern that the last water quality test for the River Teign for 2024 took place on September 18. ‘We are campaigning for this to be a good place to be all the time.’ Stuart also challenged Mr Davey to take part in the Surfers Against Sewage ‘Dip a Day’ during October.

Peta Howell, hub leader for Healthscape CIC and a Teignmouth Mermaid sea swimmer told Mr Davey that she had sent photographs and proof of sewage pollution to South West Water but that the company had denied it. ‘We want to be listened to and believed,’ she said.

Lib Dem leader Ed Davey with Teignmouth Mermaid Peta Howell discussing water quality
Lib Dem leader Ed Davey with Teignmouth Mermaid Peta Howell discussing water quality in the River Teign (Steve Pope/MDA)

‘Swimming is good for mental health and if we can’t swim it has an impact on people’s wellbeing and then animpact on health services,’ she noted.

‘It’s not unreasonable to say we would like our rivers and seas to be clean,’ Mr Davey agreed.

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey visits Teignbridge.
Cause for concern - Lib Dem leader Ed Davey pondering what the future holds for Teignbridge. (Steve Pope/MDA)

The issue of dredging and its impact on sand levels was also raised by representatives of TMS Marine and Mr Davey added his voice to concerns that regulations around dredging in the estuary may not have been applied properly.