Everything we know about Torbay Hospital fire risk

It is not yet clear how many patients at the hospital will be affected or where and when they will be relocated.

The hospital trust said it was considering “a range of potential scenarios, some of which may involve relocating services within our hospital estate”.

It said “no decisions have been made and no proposals have been agreed”.

In a letter to the Department of Health and Social Care, MPs Steve Darling, Caroline Voaden and Martin Wrigley said the changes could result in the “closure of beds in the Tower Block, which is a quarter of all beds at the hospital”.

The hospital trust acknowledged “a range of potential options are being discussed publicly” including “references to services based in the Hetherington Unit and education facilities within the Horizon Centre”.

It said it was “important to be clear that we are not closing the Tower Block, the Hetherington Unit or Torbay Hospital”.

“We are not reducing access to services for our communities, and we are not sending patients out of area because of these fire safety arrangements,” it said.

The trust stressed patients and staff would not be relocated until a plan was in place.