Views sought over hospital status

The hospital is among the best performing in the country

Users of the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital are to get their say on whether it should become a foundation hospital.

If the proposal gets the go ahead, the healthcare trust would have more freedom to manage its own affairs.

For the next 10 weeks the Royal Devon and Exeter will be organising meetings in and around Exeter to discuss the future of the hospital.

It is eligible for foundation status because inspectors placed it among the best performing trusts in the country.

You always have to be pragmatic, Utopia doesn't exist Angela Pedder, Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital chief executive

The hospital's chief executive, Angela Pedder, said if the trust was given foundation status, it would have more freedom to manage its own affairs.

But she said everyone was looking at the pros and cons of such a move realistically.

"You always have to be pragmatic, Utopia doesn't exist," she said.

"We are working through looking at what the benefits are and what the risks are for our local services and do we think the benefits outweigh the possible disadvantages.

"Our current thinking is that it does."