After the readiness check on 26 October 2026 the Royal Devon trust said births at North Devon District Hospital remain suspended, with the next check on 9 November, as BBC News also reports.
Hunch. On 13 October the trust said it was still hiring staff, had asked the wider NHS for help and was looking abroad.
The birth unit market resolves on the Royal Devon trust's North Devon birth services page: YES if the update after the 26 October check says births at North Devon District Hospital stay suspended, or if no decision to reopen is announced by the end of 27 October, and NO if the trust announces by then that the tests were met and it has formally decided to reopen. BBC News Devon and The Guardian settle it if the trust's page is silent.
We looked for cases where an NHS hospital closed a birth unit for lack of staff, missed one reopening date it had named, and then reached its next named date. We found five such units in England since 2016. Three stayed shut at the next date, and two reopened.