NHS

The NHS walk-in centre in Sidwell Street, Exeter, will be temporarily closed on Wednesday 9 April and Thursday 10 April due to staff shortages at short notice.

The centre will reopen at 8am on Friday 11 April.

Patients will be signposted to the walk-in centre at Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital or to call 111.

Kate Lyons, the Trust’s director of operations, said: “We apologise for any inconvenience the temporary closure may cause.

“Patient safety is paramount and we cannot operate the service without the appropriately skilled and experienced staff.”

South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) has launched the NHS111 service across the whole of Devon (Monday 10 March).

The service was initially launched in part of the county in September last year, but now the remaining areas will also switch to 111.

NHS 111 has already replaced the previous NHS Direct and from today it replaces GP out-of-hours telephone numbers in throughout the remainder of the county (Mid Devon and North Devon has already switched).

GP practices have changed their answer phone messages and websites to direct patients to call...

A Devon-wide project which hopes to save the NHS time and money while ensuring patient safety has been shortlisted for a national award The scheme simplifies the process under which trained staff such as nurses or pharmacists can give medicines or vaccinations without the need for a GP prescription.

Until now, there have been a whole range of different processes (known as Patient Group Directions) across Devon – 17 for vaccinations alone. But these have been replaced by a single working framework for clinicians, pharmacists and NHS managers to use when writing these documents....

Batten down the hatches yet again - another storm is heading our way this weekend.

This January has been the wettest for 100 years and looks set to end as it started.

A further area of heavy rain and strong to gale force winds will spread eastwards across the UK today (Friday) bringing around 40 mm on some high ground in the South West of England.

The Met Office recently added a severe ice warning to their warnings of wind and rain trhough the weekend.

Winds will increase tomorrow, with gusts of up to 50 to 60 mph, and perhaps to around 70 mph in exposed...

The Chief Executive of the Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust will leave the NHS next April.

Jac Kelly, leaves after 8 years as chief executive of the Trust coming into the position as a turnaround director in 2006 to combat the trust’s financial issues.

Under Kelly the Trust has returned a financial surplus for the last four years, despite making £12million a year in efficiency savings.

The Trust will begin seeking a new Chief Executive but in the interim, Andy Robinson, Director of Finance and Deputy Chief Executive, will cover the role.

Roger French,...

Patients have expressed an appetite for potential cancer symptoms to be checked out much sooner than current NHS thresholds guidelines suggest, new research has revealed. A study led by the University of Bristol, with colleagues at the University of Exeter Medical School and the University of Cambridge, found that 88 per cent of participants opted for further investigation, even if their symptoms carried just a one per cent risk of indicating cancer. Although no fixed threshold is defined for the UK, in practice, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines suggest that...

A man has been charged with attempted murder following an incident at the Vault public house in Seaton.

A Seaton man, Raoul East, 37 was charged following an incident which left a man in his forties with a stab wound in his chest.

The victim was taken to Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital but his injuries are not considered as life-threatening.

Ambulance crews treating the man called the police who arrested Mr East.

Mr East is due to appear in Exeter Magistrates Court later today (January 6)

READERS of The Exeter Daily are being encouraged to vote for their Healthcare Hero for 2013.

The Exeter Daily has linked up with the Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust, which is running the Healthcare Hero Awards for the second year.

The Trust needs your help to find those staff who deserve to be recognised and rewarded for going above and beyond the call of duty.

The Trust manages a variety of services in Exeter including Exeter Community Hospital at Whipton and the NHS walk-in centre in Sidwell Street, while its community nursing and therapy teams care for people...

New figures released by the NHS, show that the majority of hospital staff in the West Country have an above average chance of being assaulted at work.

The figures also show that there has been a national increase in assaults against NHS staff rising from 59,744 to 63,199 since last year.

The figures only include assaults that could result in a criminal action and do not include cases were a medical element is involved in the case.

Royal Devon and Exeter NHS trust reported an above average level of assaults against their staff reporting 129 assaults against staff....

Each year in the UK over 110,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke resulting in 60,000 deaths annually. Stroke costs the NHS £2.8 billion pounds a year, £1 billion more than the cost of coronary heart disease.

To improve outcomes for stroke patients in the UK a unique on line training course (accredited by the UK Stroke Forum, Education and Training) has been launched to support clinicians in recognising patients who present with the more subtle signs of a stroke or transient ischaemic attack (TIA).

A stroke is the brain’s equivalent of a heart attack and in nine out...