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Pharmacy Capacity (reference awaited)  ·  Status: AWAITING RESPONSE  ·  Submitted 11 June 2026 to three bodies
Pharmacy Capacity (ref awaited) TSD NHS FT / RDE / NHS Devon ICB
AWAITING RESPONSE

Outpatient Pharmacy Capacity at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital and Service Transfer Risk

Submitted: 11 June 2026 | References and acknowledgements awaited from all three bodies
Why This Matters: If clinical activity moves from Torbay to Exeter, patients will increasingly collect prescriptions at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, where the outpatient pharmacy is run by Boots under a contract said to date from 2014. This request tests whether anyone has assessed if that single pharmacy can absorb the extra demand created by the centralisation of cancer, pathology, and cardiology services. It is a practical, downstream consequence of the wider reconfiguration: a service moved to Exeter is only accessible if the supporting infrastructure (dispensing capacity, parking, travel) can cope. The request also seeks the risk-register and Board Assurance Framework material that would show whether these risks have been formally identified and owned.
The "If No Modelling Exists" Question: The request includes a direct challenge: if no modelling, assessment, or planning on pharmacy capacity has been undertaken, how can the four bodies (NHS Devon ICB, Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS FT, Torbay and South Devon NHS FT, and Boots UK) be assured that outpatient pharmacy capacity will remain adequate as activity migrates from Torbay to Exeter? This is the same structure the campaign used effectively on the pathology FOI, where the Trust admitted it held no Carter efficiency analysis. A "we do not hold" answer here would be equally significant.

Lodged with:

  • Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust
  • Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (holder of the Boots pharmacy contract and site)
  • NHS Devon Integrated Care Board (ICB Executive Office)
  • Observers copied: Keir Starmer MP (Prime Minister), James Murray MP, Steve Darling MP, and members of the Health and Social Care Committee (Layla Moran MP, Andrew George MP, Danny Beales MP, Beccy Cooper MP, Josh Fenton-Glynn MP, Paulette Hamilton MP, Joe Robertson MP, Greg Stafford MP)

What the request seeks, in summary:

  1. Pharmacy activity and capacity: annual outpatient prescriptions dispensed by Boots at the Royal Devon Hospital each year since the contract began (said to be 2014); the maximum dispensing capacity of the current service; and assessments of current utilisation and spare capacity.
  2. Demand modelling: any modelling of increased patient numbers arising from the transfer of clinical services from Torbay, and from the centralisation of cancer, pathology, and cardiology services, and wider One Devon reconfiguration.
  3. Risk management and Board assurance: Board Assurance Framework entries, corporate and programme risk registers, strategic and service-reconfiguration risk assessments, and mitigation plans relating to the relocation of histopathology and cellular pathology to Gadeon House, the sustainability of acute services at Torbay, the transfer of activity between Torbay and Exeter, workforce and establishment changes across pathology, cardiology, surgery, oncology, diagnostics and pharmacy, outpatient pharmacy capacity at the RDE, and patient travel, accessibility, waiting times and resilience. Each risk to include score, owner, mitigating actions, review dates, and current status.
  4. Correspondence: any correspondence between Boots UK, RDE, TSD, and NHS Devon ICB concerning future pharmacy capacity requirements.
  5. Expansion plans: any plans to increase pharmacy staffing, dispensing facilities, premises, opening hours, or contract scope to accommodate increased demand.
  6. Patient impact assessments: any assessments considering prescription waiting times, parking pressures, travel times, and accessibility for elderly patients and for patients travelling from Torbay, Paignton, Brixham, Dartmouth, and the South Hams communities.
  7. The assurance challenge: if no such modelling or assessment exists, an explanation of how the four bodies can be assured pharmacy capacity will remain adequate as activity migrates from Torbay to Exeter.

From: Susie Colley (chair@tqcc.co.uk)
To: NHS Devon ICB Executive Office, Joe Teape, Trust FOI, RDE FOI
CC: Keir Starmer MP, James Murray MP, Steve Darling MP, Layla Moran MP, Andrew George MP, Danny Beales MP, Beccy Cooper MP, Josh Fenton-Glynn MP, Paulette Hamilton MP, Joe Robertson MP, Greg Stafford MP
Subject: FOI re Additional Questions Regarding Outpatient Pharmacy Capacity

Good afternoon,

Please provide copies of any reports, modelling, capacity assessments, business cases, correspondence, risk assessments or planning documents concerning the ability of the Boots outpatient pharmacy service at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital to accommodate additional patient activity originating from Torbay and South Devon.

Specifically, please provide:

  • The annual number of outpatient prescriptions dispensed by Boots at the Royal Devon Hospital for each year since the contract commenced, allegedly in 2014.
  • The maximum dispensing capacity of the current service.
  • Any assessments of current utilisation levels and spare capacity.
  • Any modelling undertaken regarding increased patient numbers arising from: transfer of clinical services from Torbay Hospital; centralisation of cancer services; centralisation of pathology services; centralisation of cardiology services; wider One Devon service reconfiguration proposals.

Risk Management and Board Assurance

Please provide copies of any current or historic:

  • Board Assurance Framework (BAF) entries;
  • Corporate Risk Register entries;
  • Programme Risk Register entries;
  • Strategic Risk Assessments;
  • Service Reconfiguration Risk Assessments;
  • Mitigation Plans;

relating to:

  • a) the relocation of Histopathology and Cellular Pathology services from Torbay Hospital to Gadeon House, Exeter;
  • b) the sustainability of acute services at Torbay Hospital;
  • c) the transfer or potential transfer of clinical activity between Torbay Hospital and Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital;
  • d) workforce recruitment, vacancy management, establishment reductions, recruitment freezes, or succession planning affecting pathology, cardiology, surgery, oncology, diagnostics or pharmacy services;
  • e) outpatient pharmacy capacity at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital;
  • f) patient travel times, accessibility, waiting times, and service resilience arising from service reconfiguration proposals associated with the One Devon programme.

Please include the risk score, risk owner, mitigating actions, review dates, and current status of each risk.

  • Any correspondence between Boots UK, Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust and NHS Devon Integrated Care Board concerning future pharmacy capacity requirements.
  • Any plans to increase pharmacy staffing levels, dispensing facilities, premises, opening hours or contract scope to accommodate increased patient demand.
  • Any patient impact assessments considering: waiting times for prescriptions; parking pressures; travel times; accessibility for elderly patients; accessibility for patients travelling from Torbay, Paignton, Brixham, Dartmouth and South Hams communities.
  • Any risk assessments identifying whether increased activity from Torbay Hospital could adversely affect the ability of the Boots outpatient pharmacy service to provide timely dispensing services.

If no such modelling, assessment or planning has been undertaken, please explain how NHS Devon ICB, Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust, and Boots UK can be assured that outpatient pharmacy capacity will remain adequate should clinical activity increasingly migrate from Torbay to Exeter.

Please provide copies of any current or historic risk register entries, Board Assurance Framework entries, programme risks, or mitigation plans relating to: relocation of pathology services to Gadeon House; sustainability of acute services at Torbay Hospital; transfer of clinical activity between Torbay and Exeter; outpatient pharmacy capacity at Royal Devon Hospital; patient travel impacts arising from service reconfiguration.

Many thanks. Kindest regards

Susie Colley
Chair of the Torquay Chamber of Commerce and the Heart Campaign
(Declined) Governor of Torbay Hospital

Status

Submitted 11 June 2026 to three bodies: Torbay and South Devon NHS FT, Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS FT, and NHS Devon ICB, with the Prime Minister and members of the Health and Social Care Committee copied as observers. The request focuses on whether the Boots outpatient pharmacy at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital can absorb the additional demand created if cancer, pathology, and cardiology activity migrates from Torbay to Exeter, and seeks the risk-register and Board Assurance Framework material that would show whether these risks have been formally identified. As the pharmacy contract and site sit with RDE, while the Gadeon House and Torbay sustainability risks sit with TSD and the ICB, the request spans all three organisations. Reference numbers and acknowledgements are awaited. The statutory deadline will be 20 working days from each body's receipt.

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