About the Campaign
Torbay Hospital’s cardiac unit is widely recognised by its clinicians and national audit data as one of the strongest performing centres in the UK, with consultants reporting that it has ranked as high as 4th nationally for emergency angioplasty (stent) outcomes. The service has built a reputation for rapid treatment, excellent clinical practice and strong patient outcomes. We have started The Heart Campaign to fight to save our award-winning cardiac department at Torbay Hospital, which has received national recognition from the Royal College of Physicians for excellence in patient care and has been designated an NHS Beacon Service for coronary heart disease.
Despite this, proposals have been explored to move emergency cardiac services from Torbay to Exeter - a hospital whose recent performance has been described by clinicians and campaigners as significantly lower in national comparisons. This is evidenced in a Royal College of Physicians report highlighting areas for concern in 2023. This contrast has raised understandable concern about the rationale behind centralising services away from a high-performing unit.
Any case for change must be driven by transparent evidence and a commitment to improving outcomes, not by geography or cost-cutting that compromises patient access to emergency cardiac care. The Heart Campaign’s purpose is to protect high-quality cardiac care for South Devon and to ensure that NHS reform strengthens, rather than disrupts, proven excellence. We support decision-making driven by evidence and patient outcomes, not by geography or cost-cutting that puts patient safety at risk.
“Our mission is to keep Torbay’s Cardiac Unit local and to protect the hospital services, staff, and community that depend on it.”
The critical facts of heart attack
Video presentation by award-winning cardiologist Dr Phil Keeling
Your Hospital
needs your support
Why It Matters
It is our view that plans are afoot to close the cardiac unit at The Torbay Hospital and move it to the Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital. If these plans go ahead, lives are at serious risk, as every minute counts when you have a heart attack.
Currently, if you have a heart attack in South Devon, the paramedics in the ambulance will do an ECG, which is sent in real time to the Catheter Laboratory (CATHLAB) at Torbay Hospital. As soon as you arrive you will be taken straight to the cardiac unit for immediate treatment. Once the heart muscles are starved of oxygen they die, so a stent may be inserted to return blood flow to your heart. If you are not treated within a very short space of time, you may live but your heart will not be the same, and you may be left with severe impacts on your health.
Medical care should be as close as possible to the point of need. There is a ‘golden hour’ from when you first have symptoms of a heart attack to get to a hospital for treatment. At the moment that is Torbay Hospital. If cardiac services are moved to the RD&E, the chances of survival are reduced dramatically for many patients who may be unable to reach treatment in the critical time span. Any relocation of PPCI services must be supported by transparent evidence demonstrating that patients will continue to receive treatment within national safety time standards and without any deterioration in clinical outcomes.
We believe that if we lose even a section of the department, all cardiology services will be affected, and the rest of acute services at the hospital may be at risk. The hospital could be reduced to providing only basic care.
Just take a look at the map attached here. If you live in Torbay, the additional travel time to Exeter significantly reduces your chances of survival. If you lived south of Dartmouth, the situation becomes even more critical. The extended journey times put patients at grave risk.
So PLEASE if there is any way you can get the word out to as many people as possible, we would appreciate it. 'People Power' is the way forward and although the campaign has been featured on television, on numerous occasions in Torbay Weekly and on social media, there are still thousands and thousands of the local population who are unaware. So, if you are a member of a club, please tell all the other members; all family members need to be included as this is not just a problem for those of us getting older. Heart problems can hit you at any age and even if you are super-fit.
If the Cardiac Unit is merged with the RD&E, we believe the whole health system in Torbay and surrounding areas will be seriously compromised and the knock-on effect of that will ripple out to every other department of the hospital.
To save lives we MUST SAVE our Cardiac Unit.
Follow us on our Facebook page ‘The Heart Campaign’ for daily updates.
Committee Members
Dr Phil Keeling
Dr Keeling qualified at Barts in 1985, having completed both his BSc and MD. After training in cardiology across London, he was appointed as a consultant cardiologist at Torbay in 1996. Over nearly three decades there, he built cardiac services from the ground up, bringing in cardiac nurse specialists, establishing one-stop clinics for patients, and setting up dedicated clinics for inherited cardiac conditions and transoesophageal echocardiography.
His work expanded services across heart failure, chest pain assessment, arrhythmias, and clinical research. Beyond his hospital work, he contributed to regional and national committees, and his efforts were recognised with three national awards. He has published more than 100 papers throughout his career.
Dr Keeling retired in June 2025. He is married with three children and two dogs.
Susie Colley (Campaign Chair)
Susie began her nursing career at The Royal London Hospital in 1964, later working in Australia before returning to the UK to train in midwifery and cardiothoracic theatre at St Thomas' Hospital, then in neurosurgery at the Western General in Scotland. After a stint at The Wellington Hospital in London, she moved to Devon, where she raised her daughter whilst continuing to work in healthcare.
Following the loss of her husband to an aortic aneurysm 27 years ago, Susie established a medical insurance brokerage that grew to support more than 4,500 clients worldwide before she sold the business in 2024.
As Chair of the Chamber of Commerce, Susie has been a persistent voice on local issues. She now chairs The Heart Campaign, drawing on both her professional experience and personal understanding of cardiac care. She is determined to ensure that Torbay's cardiac services remain accessible and local, and that decisions about them are led by evidence rather than geography.
Sally Allen-Gerard
Sally was born in Torquay but left to build her career in London, the USA and the Caribbean, where she established a marketing, sponsorship and PR agency. Over the years she has worked with major organisations and brands including Guinness, MCC, Rugby World Cup, Soccer World Cup, NatWest, Mitsubishi, Harper Collins, the FA and Associated Newspapers, as well as high-profile figures such as François Pienaar and President Bill Clinton. Her work has spanned marketing, sponsorship, retail, publicity, e-commerce and international event management, and she has built an extensive network across entertainment, sport, leisure, politics and media.
In 2000, Sally launched an e-commerce fashion business and created her own brand, Wizard Jeans. She returned to live in Torbay in 2012, where she now chairs the Civic Society and writes a column for the local newspaper. She has won two business awards during her career.
Margaret Forbes-Hamilton
Margaret was born in New Zealand to English parents and grew up in a household where volunteering and community campaigning were simply part of life. She moved to the UK in her twenties and lived across England and Scotland before settling in Torquay with her family in 1991.
She quickly became involved with school and community groups, and that pattern has continued. She currently chairs the Torre and Upton Community Partnership and the Torbay Greenspace Forum, and sits on the Shadow Town Deal Board and the Torquay Neighbourhood Forum. After many years of self-employment, Margaret spent the last 17 years of her working life as a librarian—which may explain her fondness for scrutinising documents.
Nicole Amil
Nicole had over 30 years experience working in Local Government prior to her retirement in 2006 and was elected as a Torbay Councillor in 2007.
During the past 18 years, Nicole has continuously actively worked with local residents, Community Groups/Partnership, Charities and Campaigns. As an Independent Councillor she currently represents Cockington with Chelston and Livermead and lives in her Ward.
Nicole has served as the Lead Councillor for Tourism & Culture and the Arts, Tor Bay Harbours, English Riviera Airshow and as Torbay Armed Forces Champion. She is also a former Governor on the Council of Governors of the Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust. As a Member of the Royal British Legion, she continues to support the Ex-Service Associations, Armed Forces Covenant, Veterans and Members of the A F Community; and is a School Governor at Sherwell Valley Primary School.
Nicole is A Local Woman Fighting for 'Local People'!