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Status: AWAITING RESPONSE  ·  One request, submitted 31 October 2026 to three bodies  ·  Earliest statutory deadline 27 November 2026
Pathology travel & equality FOI NHS Devon ICB · Royal Devon · Torbay & South Devon NHS FT
AWAITING RESPONSE

Travel modelling, equality assessment and consultation for the pathology move to Gadeon House

Submitted: 31 October 2026 | Sent in identical terms to three bodies | Covers 1 January 2023 to the date of response
Why this matters: The Trust's own Cellular Pathology Options Appraisal, disclosed under FOI TSD10884, recorded that clinical pathways had not been assessed and that moving the service at pace carried a risk to the Torbay population. This request goes to the evidence that should sit behind a move of that kind. It asks how far patients and specimens now have to travel between the Torbay catchment and Exeter, what that does to ambulance journeys and to specimen turnaround times, and what equality and quality impact assessments were carried out before the decision was taken. The same questions were put, in identical terms, to the three bodies responsible for the service and its commissioning.

Where the request stands

The campaign submitted one request on 31 October 2026 and sent it, unchanged, to the commissioner and to both NHS trusts involved. Each body handles it under its own reference and its own clock. The current position with each is set out below.

Body Reference Status Response due
NHS Devon ICB
the commissioner		 FOINHSD26/1991 Recipient confirmed 2 November 2026 after the ICB queried whether it was the intended addressee 30 November 2026
Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS FT
operator of Gadeon House		 RDF4756-26 Acknowledged 1 November 2026 27 November 2026
Torbay & South Devon NHS FT
the Trust		 Reference awaited Submitted 31 October 2026 30 November 2026

The deadlines for the ICB and the Trust are the dates the campaign set out in the request, 20 working days from 2 November. The Royal Devon date of 27 November 2026 is the deadline stated by the Royal Devon in its own acknowledgement.

What the request asks for

The request is in two parts. Part A asks for travel, transport and access information, covering journey-time and route modelling between the Torbay catchment and Exeter, ambulance and inter-hospital transfer modelling, and, for pathology specifically, specimen transport arrangements and monthly turnaround-time figures before and after each transfer. Part B asks for the equality and impact assessments, meaning every Equality Impact Assessment and Quality Impact Assessment produced for the reconfiguration, any health inequalities assessment, and the minutes of any meeting at which those assessments were considered. The full request is reproduced below.

From: Susie Colley, Director, Save Torbay Hospital Ltd, and Chair of Torquay Chamber of Commerce
To: the Freedom of Information Officer at NHS Devon ICB, the Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, and Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust (sent in identical terms to each)
Copied to: Members of Parliament and the campaign's legal advisers
Subject: Freedom of Information Act 2000 request - travel modelling, equality assessment and consultation relating to the pathology reconfiguration (Gadeon House) and other service transfers

Dear Freedom of Information Officer,

I am writing under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to request the information set out below. Where I refer to "the pathology reconfiguration", I mean the transfer or proposed transfer of pathology services (including cellular pathology) from Torbay Hospital to Gadeon House, Exeter, in all its phases (including Phase 1 and Phase 2). Unless stated otherwise, the period covered is 1 January 2023 to the date of your response.

Part A - Travel, transport and access

  1. Any modelling, analysis or assessment held by the Trust of journey times, distances or travel routes between the Torbay Hospital catchment area and Exeter (including Gadeon House and the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, Wonford) carried out in connection with the pathology reconfiguration or any other transfer of services from Torbay to Exeter. I am particularly interested in analysis covering South Hams communities (including East Prawle, Kingsbridge, Salcombe and Dartmouth), Brixham, Paignton, Torquay, Totnes and Newton Abbot.
  2. Any modelling or analysis of ambulance journey, conveyance or inter-hospital transfer times between the Torbay catchment area and Exeter, including any data or advice provided by, or correspondence on this subject with, South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust.
  3. For the pathology reconfiguration specifically:
    1. any assessment of specimen transport times and arrangements between Torbay and Gadeon House, including courier schedules, out-of-hours arrangements and contingency plans for road closures or delays on the A380/A38 corridor;
    2. monthly turnaround-time figures for urgent and routine cellular pathology specimens from Torbay patients for the 12 months before the first transfer and every month since.
  4. If no information is held for any of questions 1-3, please confirm this explicitly for each question.

Part B - Equality and impact assessments

  1. Every Equality Impact Assessment (or equivalent equality analysis under the Public Sector Equality Duty, section 149 Equality Act 2010) produced for the pathology reconfiguration, in each of its phases, including drafts presented to any Board or committee.
  2. Every Quality Impact Assessment and any health inequalities impact assessment produced for the pathology reconfiguration.
  3. The minutes, or relevant extracts of minutes, of any Board, Board committee or executive meeting at which any of the assessments in questions 5-6 were considered or approved.

I should be most grateful to receive the answers to all the above within the 20-working-day deadline from 2 November which is 30 November 2026.

Many thanks, Kindest regards

Susie Colley
Director, Save Torbay Hospital Ltd
Chair of Torquay Chamber of Commerce

Reproduced as sent. The request refers throughout to "the Trust"; the same wording was sent to each of the three bodies. The Royal Devon acknowledged the request on 1 November 2026 under reference RDF4756-26 and gave a deadline of 27 November 2026.

The wider Gadeon House picture

This request sits alongside the campaign's other Gadeon House and pathology requests. Read together, they ask the same underlying question from different angles, which is whether the move of cellular pathology out of Torbay was driven by a funding deadline rather than by an assessment of clinical risk, travel impact and patient need.

Related requests:
  • TSD10884 - The Gadeon House lease: planning, funding and the decision to commit (internal review requested, with a linked request on the funding deadline and clinical risk).
  • TSD10612 - Cellular pathology relocation to Gadeon House: clinical impact, governance and scrutiny.
  • TSD10513 - Pathology reconfiguration: business cases, modelling and decision-making records.
  • Gadeon House Planning - lawful use and change-of-use challenge on application 25/0538/FUL.
  • Funding the Gadeon House Move - the loan to the Royal Devon and the Edginswell land disposal.

What happens next

Three clocks are now running. The Royal Devon has acknowledged the request under reference RDF4756-26 and is due to respond by 27 November 2026. The NHS Devon ICB confirmed on 2 November 2026 that it is the intended recipient, under reference FOINHSD26/1991, and is due to respond by 30 November 2026. The Trust has yet to issue a reference and is due to respond by 30 November 2026. Each body must either provide the recorded information it holds or confirm that it holds none, and the request asks each to confirm explicitly where nothing is held. Any acknowledgement, reference, refusal notice or disclosure from any of the three will be recorded here.

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