Mental health service cuts in north Devon 'disastrous'

Devon County Council's cabinet will meet at County Hall to decide the future of the service

Plans to cut a "vital" service supporting people with mental health issues in Devon have been suspended.

The North Devon Link Service operates in Ilfracombe, Barnstaple and Bideford and has helped hundreds of people.

Supporters said cutting the scheme would be "disastrous".

A report for Devon County Council ahead of Wednesday's meeting said the service costs £485,000 a year and was "inconsistent" with the rest of the county.

Sonia Gould, a service user, said the cuts would leave people "distraught"

The decision by the cabinet members on Devon County Council to cut the service was met with cries of "shame on you" from members of the public attending the meeting earlier on Wednesday.

A few hours after the meeting ended, the council said the decision had been "called in" for review.

The council's health and adult care scrutiny committee will now review the plan to cut the service and report back to cabinet before cabinet members can make a final decision in April.

One of the service users, Sonia Gould, said: "This is going to mean isolation. It is going to mean no preventative care.

"There are going to be so many people distraught."

According to the report, the service was set up in 1992 "to provide a range of social, leisure, support, guidance and educational opportunities for adults with mental health issues that do not require specialist NHS care".

The North Devon Link Service is the only one of its kind in Devon and so is "inconsistent with service delivery across the county", according to the report.

The cabinet member for adult social care, James McInnes, said it had been a difficult decision

Councillor James McInnes, cabinet member for adult social care, said it had been a difficult but necessary decision.

Following the meeting he said: "We want to make sure we have a service across the system in Devon that is there for everyone who needs support for mental health.

"It wasn't all about money today - there is a genuine need to actually change the type of service that's going to be supplied."

There were more than 250 responses to public consultations in 2023 on the possible closures.

The Devon County Council report said people could "now access mental health support services in ways they could not previously" through GP practices and voluntary and community groups.

Terry Elliott, a Labour councillor on Ilfracombe Town Council, who has campaigned to save the service, said the cuts would be "disastrous" for service users and their families.

She said: "People feel abandoned and as though their health and lives don't matter.

"People don't trust the report and feel let down."