Plans to close Teignmouth Hospital will be reviewed by independent experts after an intervention by the Health Secretary.

The community hospital on Mill Lane was the first to be built by the NHS after it was established 73 years ago but was facing closure, with services moving to Dawlish Hospital and a new £8 million health centre in Teignmouth town centre.

However, campaigners argued against the decision made by NHS Devon's clinical commissioning group (CCG), saying community hospital beds are "desperately needed," while a petition entitled 'Hands Off Teignmouth Hospital' has been supported by more than 1,000 people.

Local MP Anne Marie Morris (Conservative, Newton Abbot) has also campaigned to keep the hospital open and welcomed the decision by Exeter University-educated Health Secretary Sajid Javid.

She said: "Having been involved with this campaign since 2014, this is a fantastic step in the right direction both for the local Teignmouth community and the wider provision of healthcare in Teignbridge."

In her statement, Ms Morris added: "This in itself is vindication for those who have quite rightly raised concerns about the way in which the decision to close Teignmouth Hospital was reached."

But she warned if the independent panel finds the changes in South Devon are not in the best interest of residents, they will probably require the CCG to re-run the consultation process, not stop the plans altogether.

"However, this would therefore be an opportunity to reaffirm strongly the case for both keeping Teignmouth Hospital open and holding the CCG to account, ensuring they actually take into account and reassess the full health needs of the local community, especially post-Covid," Ms Morris said.

If the consultation is re-run, she wants the CCG to consider the impact of Covid on the local population, review plans for home-based care because "having rehabilitation beds at Teignmouth made sense," and undertake a separate consultation on the hospital closure.

In his letter to Devon's health and adult care scrutiny committee, Mr Javid said: "In light of correspondence … I have written to the Independent Reconfiguration Panel (IRP) asking them to undertake an initial assessment of this case."

Last March a motion passed by the committee stated: "The actions of the NHS Devon Clinical Commissioning Group to remove services from Teignmouth Community Hospital when the [health and wellbeing] hub is ready for use will result in the hospital becoming an empty building.

"Teignmouth Community Hospital sits within the Torbay and South Devon Foundation Trust estate. No consultation has taken place by the trust with Teignmouth residents on the future of the hospital.

Passing the motion to the then-Health Secretary Matt Hancock, it added the committee was "not satisfied with the adequacy the consultation and scrutiny has not been consulted, and it is not satisfied that the reasons given for not carrying out consultation are adequate."

In a statement, a spokesperson for NHS Devon Clinical Commissioning Group said: "We're aware of the referral to the Independent Reconfiguration Panel (IRP). We look forward to working with the IRP as they gather the information they need to make their recommendation to the secretary of state."

Mr Javid has asked the panel to aim to report back by the middle of December 2021, "subject to them being in receipt of all relevant information."