About us
When we formed our integrated care organisation in October 2015 we became the first NHS organisation in England to join-up hospital and community care with social care. We are proud pioneers in integrating health and social care nationally.
Our vision is better health and care for all. Learn more about our vision and strategy.
We passionately believe that the best way to care for people is by focusing on what matters to them, putting them at the centre of everything we do and integrating services around them. We believe that care as close to home as possible benefits everyone.
Never has our vision been more important. The impact of COVID-19 has not only increased the pressure across all aspects of health and social care, but those who live in our most deprived coastal communities have seen an increasing gap in health inequalities.
We provide health and social care services to our people in their own homes or in their local community. We also run Torbay Hospital (providing acute hospital services) as well as five community hospitals, stretching from Dawlish to Brixham.
We support around 500,000 face-to-face contacts with patients in their homes and communities each year and see over 78,000 people in our A&E department annually. We serve a resident population of approximately 286,000 people, plus about 100,000 visitors at any one time during the summer holiday season.
We are passionate about creating a fairer and more inclusive NHS for everyone.
We employ over 6,500 staff, including doctors, nurses, social workers, consultants, and allied health professionals, as well as highly skilled managers, administrators, and technical experts. Our people work in a wide range of settings and locations across our communities, depending on their individual role or circumstances.
We also have over 350 volunteers (and growing) who make a difference every day to the people we care for and the services we provide.
We were proud to be the first NHS Trust in England to integrate hospital and community care with social care.
Now, as a well-established integrated care organisation of more than seven years’ standing, we know first-hand the positive impact that working together in partnership with others has on our local population – giving everyone a brighter future.
We receive the majority of income from our commissioners, NHS Devon Clinical Commissioning Group, who receive an allocation of NHS money from the government each year and decide on the healthcare priorities for the local population. The responsibility for the adult social care budget is delegated to us via Torbay Council, and we have an understanding with Devon County Council to run social care services in a joined-up way.
We are hugely grateful for the support our League of Friends offer our people. Our League of Friends for Dawlish Hospital, Newton Abbot Hospital, Teignmouth Hospital, Torbay Hospital and Totnes Hospital work tirelessly to raise vital funds to support the work we do and help improve patient care and experience as well as supporting the wellbeing, training and development of our much valued staff.
Our history
We became Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust on 1 October 2015, when South Devon Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (who ran Torbay Hospital) merged with Torbay and Southern Devon Health and Care NHS Trust (who provided community health and social care services).
Both organisations have a history of working closely together but prior to this each organisation had its own history.
Torbay Hospital dates back to 1928, when it was built on the edge of Torbay. Known previously as South Devon Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, it was one of the first NHS Trusts (established in 1991) and was authorised as one of the early NHS Foundation Trusts in 2007. In 2011 the organisation won organisation of the year with the Health Service Journal (HSJ).
Prior to the merger, Torbay and Southern Devon Health and Care NHS Trust ran community health services in Torbay and South Devon and was one of just five integrated health and social care organisations in the country. When it started back in 2005 as Torbay Care Trust, it built its model of care around a fictional character called Mrs Smith by creating integrated health and adult social care services.
View our organisational charts.
We have been an authorised NHS Foundation Trust since 2007 and have over 12,000 public members, including 6,000 staff members. To find out about becoming a member please visit our membership pages.