Devon’s NHS has been shortlisted for a prestigious national award thanks to improvements it has made to dementia care in the county.
The local NHS, which includes Devon, Plymouth and Torbay, will find out if it has won a Care Integration Award at a ceremony in London on Tuesday 9 July 2013.
The nomination is for the development of a dementia care pathway that has already reduced the waiting times for specialist dementia diagnosis and memory assessment, and has improved awareness of the benefits of diagnosis at an early stage by the patients’ GP.
A GP from Budleigh Salterton has welcomed a challenge from the Prime Minister to the NHS for 20 per cent more people who have dementia to be diagnosed by 2015.
Dementia Awareness Week takes place this week (19 – 25 May) and the challenge could lead to 160,000 more people in England with dementia receiving access to treatment and support.
In Exeter, East and Mid Devon a new dementia support worker service has recently launched.
It means support workers closely work with GP practices, community mental health teams, complex care teams, local hospitals and the voluntary...
Staff and patients at the children’s ward of the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital enjoyed a visit from a local hair salon when they presented a cheque for more than £2,500.
SAKS Hair Salon, in Exeter’s Princesshay, raised the money for Bramble ward during their launch party. They chose the children’s oncology department at the RD&E because it is a charity close to a SAKS customer’s heart.
Eleanor Winkler, manager of SAKS Hair Salon in Princesshay said: “We’d like to thank the staff and children of Bramble Ward for a lovely afternoon. We really enjoyed the opportunity to...
NHS Northern, Eastern and Western Devon Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) officially launched today (1 April 2013).
From today local GPs and clinicians will be responsible for buying services for people in the northern, eastern and western areas of Devon from healthcare providers such as local hospitals, the community and mental health services.
Rebecca Harriott, chief officer at Northern, Eastern and Western Devon CCG said she was pleased to launch the new organisation.
“The hard work starts now, realising our vision of healthy people, living healthy lives, in...
Smokers in Devon are being encouraged to "swap fags for swag", and consider the financial benefits of quitting, on the 30th anniversary of No Smoking Day on Wednesday 13 March.
Nearly one in six adults in the UK smoke, including 18 per cent in Devon. But figures show two thirds of them want to quit.
In Devon, smokers are being encouraged to take this a step further and spend their new found cash on a new healthy habit – getting active.
Leisure centres across Devon will be offering special promotions to help smokers ditch the cigarettes for good and get into exercise...
The NHS in Devon is urging people who are in ‘at risk’ groups to visit their GP to get a free flu vaccination if they have not already done so this winter.
People who are in the clinical at risk groups are 11 times more likely to die if they get flu than a “healthy” person – for some groups, like those with chronic degenerative neurological diseases, that risk rises to 40 times.
Clinical at risk groups include those with:
a heart problem;
a chest complaint or breathing difficulties including, bronchitis, emphysema;
A dynamic event highlighted the wide range of medical and health research involving the University of Exeter, the NHS and business partners.
Staff from a number of University departments, the NHS, local charities and businesses, as well as students, gathered in the Forum, to speak to researchers first-hand about their pioneering work as part of a poster display.
Interdisciplinary opportunities in research were highlighted by the key note speeches from Professor Nick Stone of Physics, Dr Natalia Lawrence of Psychology, and Professor Jonathan Mill, of the University of Exeter...
A month-long national campaign has seen a sharp rise in the number of Devon smokers quitting, early figures have revealed.
Early indications for the second part of the year, which includes the Stoptober campaign run by NHS Devon and Devon County Council as part of a national quit smoking attempt, show a 15% increase in the number of people stopping smoking.
And the increase has been across a wide age range. 25% of the increase was for those in the age category 18-34. Figures also show the increase is more marked in men than women.
It has been a big year for the English health service, but for the wrong reasons, writes Alex Nunns of the NHS Support Federation. Here Alex pulls together the strands to explain what is really going on in the NHS.
There was standing room only at a public meeting organised by KONP South West and 38 Degrees in Exeter on Monday evening.
The packed meeting heard from five keynote speakers who described the threats now faced by the NHS. They then suggested ways in which the fight to protect the NHS could be taken forward. These will involve action that individuals can take, as well as group activities. All the proposals were received enthusiastically.
The Exeter meeting was the third to be held in Devon, bringing together signatories of the 38 Degrees online petitions aimed at the new...
