Latest news from the Royal Devon: October 2025
|
|
|
|
Latest news for our members and stakeholders |
|
|
October 2025 |
|
|
This newsletter aims to keep you, our members and stakeholders, updated with the latest news from across the Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. |
|
|
In this update |
|
|
Top stories
Other news
|
|
|
|
|
|
Responding to changes to national NHS oversight
We have been placed in segment three of the new NOF and are ranked 54th out of 134 acute and community trusts across England. Sam Higginson, Chief Executive Officer, said: “I feel this is a fair reflection of the excellent care we deliver to our patients while reflecting the challenges we are experiencing with our waiting lists and financial position. “I am proud of our strong performance in several areas, particularly across Effectiveness and Experience of care which measures patient satisfaction, hospital-level mortality and discharge performance. We have also seen strong performance in Patient Safety and People and Workforce. The framework also identifies areas where we can continue to drive improvements, including access to care and reducing our waiting lists. “We have already aligned our longer-term plan and our operating plan for 2025/26 to support improvements, including through implementation of ambient voice technology in outpatients, development of same day emergency care (SDEC) at both NDDH and RD&E, and further roll-out of our electronic patient record Epic and MY CARE across Devon.”
|
|
|
Winners recognised at our Extraordinary People Awards
On the evening of Friday 3 October, we held our Extraordinary People Awards ceremony to celebrate the incredible staff and volunteers who work across the Trust. Nearly 300 people came together for our awards ceremony at Sandy Park, Exeter, where we announced our winners and presented them with their awards. Thank you again to our patients and our local communities for taking the time to nominate and celebrate the staff who make the Royal Devon such a special place. The event was fully funded by our generous corporate sponsors the Royal Devon Staff Lottery, Nevada Construction, EX2 Group, Tusker, Dartline, Denhams Digital, WMS and SCC. We’re also grateful for contributions from Moore-Wilson and Serve and Protect Credit Union. View the winners and find out more about their nominations here.
Staff celebrating at our Extraordinary People Awards |
|
|
Royal Devon secures national funding to help transform services We have successfully secured external funding for a number of exciting projects which are underway at the Royal Devon. This includes a £20m commitment from NHS England to create a Centre of Excellence for day surgery at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital (Heavitree). The surgical hub will include new theatres and recovery space, as well as repurposing existing theatre estate. We are also delighted to be able to confirm that £22.7m of funding has now been secured for the redevelopment of staff residences at North Devon District Hospital and work will begin this month, marking a significant milestone in the Our Future Hospital programme. Our brand-new Tiverton Endoscopy Diagnostic Unit was recently opened by Councillor Neil Davey, Tiverton Mayor, and Rachel Gilmour, MP for Tiverton and Minehead. The £12.5m unit, funded by NHS England, triples the capacity for endoscopies in Tiverton, providing an extra 5,600 procedures a year and will help us recover endoscopy waiting lists and manage increasing waiting times. 
Artist’s impression of the new staff residencies at NDDH 
Staff with Rachel Gilmour, MP for Tiverton and Minehead, and Councillor Neil Davey, Tiverton Mayor, at Tiverton Endoscopy Diagnostic Unit |
|
|
Catch up on our AI talk and Annual Members’ Meeting On Wednesday 24 September, we held our Annual Members’ Meeting, as well as a talk and Q&A on how we are using artificial intelligence (AI) to improve healthcare for patients at the Royal Devon. It was fantastic to see lots of members of the public, staff, and governors, both in the room at the RD&E and on Microsoft Teams. Attendees had some great questions for us and it was a valuable opportunity for us to hear people’s views about the use of AI in healthcare. If you weren’t able to attend and would like to catch up, you can watch a recording on our website.
|
|
|
|
|
|
New governors elected to represent members’ interests
Following elections to the Council of Governors held this summer, we’re delighted to welcome Sandra Savill, who joins re-elected governors Richard Westlake and Gillian Greenfield in the Southern constituency. We also welcome Gail Hadley-Piggin, who was elected for the Northern constituency. All four have been elected for terms of three years. You can find out more about our Council of Governors here. Thank you to all of you who voted. The full report of voting can be viewed on the Trust website here. We look forward to working with our new and re-elected governors in the coming year. |
|
|
Royal Devon services receive positive feedback from the Care Quality Commission
Following routine Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspections at the Nightingale Hospital Exeter in June, and Castle Place GP Practice in Tiverton in July, both have received overall ratings of 'good' from the regulator.
Sam Higginson, Chief Executive Officer at the Royal Devon, said: "Inspections from the CQC are an important reflection of how we are doing and we are delighted that both services received good ratings overall. They are also always learning opportunities for us, and we are pleased both reports recognise that where issues were identified, they were resolved swiftly wherever possible.” We are also pleased to have been rated the top-performing trust in the South West for inpatient experience in the latest CQC Adult Inpatient Survey (2024), released in September.
The national survey asks patients aged 16 and over about their experiences during a recent stay in hospital on an adult inpatient ward. Patients said they had particularly positive experiences in a number of areas, including being treated with kindness and compassion, feeling treated with respect and dignity, and having trust and confidence in the doctors caring for them. |
|
|
#JabDone: get your vaccinations now before winter illnesses arrive
The best time to get vaccinated is well before winter illnesses peak, so we’re encouraging everyone who’s eligible to get in early and get their #JabDone in October and November. Vanessa Purday, Chief Medical Officer said: “The flu vaccine prevented between 96,000 and 120,200 hospitalisations in England last season. “For the Royal Devon, this meant we were able to keep more people out of hospital and well in their home. I strongly encourage as many people as possible to get vaccinated this season. Don’t wait until we reach the winter peak, get your vaccinations early.”
Our clinics welcome walk-ins as well as taking bookings through the National Booking Service. Alternatively, GPs and some pharmacies are also offering the vaccine. |
|
|
Your stories: why do people volunteer with us? Our patient, staff and stakeholder stories provide us with an opportunity to hear what it’s like to receive care from us or work with us. These stories are heard and discussed at our Board of Directors meetings and shared with staff across the Trust. In our latest story, we hear from volunteers at the Royal Devon, about the difference they make to the experience of patients and what they get out of their volunteering role. You can watch the film by clicking on the image below: 
The Board discussed how valuable our volunteers are and the positive contribution they make to patient experience and our clinical teams. Board members discussed how we make the best use of volunteers to support our community patients, as care moves from acute to community in line with the 10 Year Plan. You’ll see more stories in future issues of this newsletter and you can view other patient stories on our website. 
Tobacco Treatment Team
This month we sat down with Steph Parker, Tobacco Treatment Team Leader at the Royal Devon. What does the Tobacco Treatment Team do and how do you support patients? We provide specialist support and treatment to all patients and staff across Royal Devon who want to quit smoking. Geoff Williams, Tobacco Dependency Support Worker and I, provide one-to-one bedside support for patients in hospital. This includes taking a carbon monoxide reading, assessing their dependency to nicotine, creating a quit plan for the patient to take home, and recommending which nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) is right for them. Why is the team so important? We are focused on helping patients look at what behaviours are keeping them smoking. We come up with a realistic quit plan together and the patients leave with a plan they are happy with and that fits with their life. Read the full article here.  
Pictured above Geoff Williams and Steph Parker |
|
|
Royal Devon Hospitals Charity news Find out how you can support the Royal Devon Hospitals Charity here. |
|
|
Meet our new Head of Charity We are delighted to welcome Lucy Ashton as the new Head of Charity. Lucy joins the charity after 18 years at RNLI, where she coordinated community fundraising and engagement across the South West. She said: “I am looking forward to meeting our supporters and volunteers, as well as Royal Devon staff across North, East and Mid Devon, and helping the charity continue to grow.” Watch a video message from Lucy on our website here.
|
Skating to support people affected by cancer A huge thank you to everyone who took part in an epic 18-hour charity roller skate at Stoppers Roller Rink in Barnstaple. Around 70 skaters of all ages rolled together and raised more than £7,000 to support the Royal Devon Hospitals Charity Fern Centre and ChemoHero – two charities supporting people in North Devon affected by cancer. Thank you to everyone who took part. 
|
|
Memorial trees planted to honour health workers who have lost their lives to suicide Memorial trees have been planted at Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital (RD&E) and North Devon District Hospital (NDDH) as a way to remember healthcare workers who have taken their own lives. Royal Devon leading local GP and pharmacy sexual health services Following the award of a new sexual health services contract for Devon and Torbay earlier this year, we have taken on responsibility for the provision of sexual health services through primary care. MHRA confirms taking paracetamol during pregnancy remains safe The MHRA has confirmed that taking paracetamol during pregnancy remains safe and there is no evidence it causes autism in children. Celebrating 100 years of Bideford Community Hospital On Tuesday 23 September 2025, Bideford Community Hospital reached a remarkable milestone. Find out more here. Parkinson’s carer survey- share your views Carers of people living with Parkinson’s in the South West are being invited to share their experiences in this short survey. Chair appointed to Devon and Cornwall Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) John Govett has been appointed to chair the new Devon and Cornwall ICB Cluster, which is responsible for commissioning and contracting health services for communities in Devon and Cornwall, working with provider organisations like us. |
|
|
Follow the Trust on social media Follow our Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and LinkedIn pages for all our latest updates as they happen!
|
|
|
You have received this email because you are important to us as either a member or stakeholder of the Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. If you would like to stop receiving this newsletter, please email rduh.comms@nhs.net and ask to be removed from the newsletter mailing list. Would you like to receive this news direct to your inbox? Click here and complete the online form to become a member and receive our newsletter! |
|
|
|
|
14th October 2025