Trustees have conducted business via online meetings and have agreed the annual meeting will take place on the same platform at 10am on Saturday, July 25. Members of the public who would like to join the meeting should email

[email protected] for details.

Sarah Lampey, sister in charge at Wellington Community Hospital, joined for the latest meeting and gave an update on the use of the building, which was closed at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

She said the wards remained closed to inpatients but the building was being used for ante-/post-natal clinics, and dietary clinics. They were kept separate with their own entrances and exits. The leg ulcer clinic was set to resume from July and physios were beginning virtual clinics. Other clinics were set to follow, including podiatry. There was no news on when the inpatient ward would re-open but it was hoped it might be September.

A mum-to-be had sent a message to say how relieved she was to be told her pre- and post-natal appointments would be at the hospital.

The summer fete (May 30) and cream tea (July 11) have been cancelled, and it is unlikely, at the moment, the Christmas coffee morning will go ahead.

People have still been raising money for the League of Friends. West Buckland WI always runs a stall at the annual summer fete and members Rita Sanders and Eunice King have presented the £215.50 proceeds of socially distanced table-top sales held in the village on the Thursday ‘Clap for NHS’ evenings. Staunch supporter Bee James gave the £15 the proceeds from making and selling face masks.

The league has stayed in close contact with local GP surgeries and district nursing team throughout the pandemic, and has reacted quickly to any requests they may have. The league is still awaiting delivery of four syringe drivers ordered just after Easter for the district nursing team. They are unlikely to arrive before the end of the summer due to a shortage of supply.

The league has agreed to purchase an automatic ABPI monitor, used as part of the Doppler test and which will be shared between the two GP surgeries. The machine, estimated to cost £3,000, is used to check if a patient is suitable for compression stockings and to identify vascular issues.

Patients who wear compression stockings need an annual assessment – when carried out manually this can take 30-40 minutes and because of this length of time these checks have not been carried out since the Covid crisis started. These checks can be completed in less than five minutes with the machine, significantly speeding up the process and allowing the surgeries to catch up on the backlog.

The initial request came from Luson Surgery and the league was pleased to hear that Wellington Medical Centre would also appreciate use of this machine.