Previous developments

Over recent years we have received capital investment for a number of important projects to support us in providing high quality healthcare to the people of Torbay and South Devon. You can read about some of our previous projects and their impact below.

Our £15.7m Acute Medical Unit (AMU) at Torbay Hospital was officially opened in November 2022.

The project delivered a new AMU which is split over two levels and sees a wide variety of patients who require varying levels of care. It has 36 assessment spaces and allows patients to receive timely, high quality care, in the right place. Referrals are taken from both the Emergency Department as well as directly from GPs, the community and other specialties.

Image: Team members stand outside the new Acute Medical Unit (AMU) at Torbay Hospital

Having AMU located next to our Emergency Department improves the flow of patients across the two departments allowing for more timely patient reviews and an overall enhanced patient experience.

Torbay Hospital’s League of Friends donated over £500,000 to the project with the funds helping to equip the AMU with new patient trolleys and recliners.

A huge team of designers, planners, engineers, architects – KTA, staff from across the Trust, and appointed construction partner Kier, worked hard to turn this vision into a reality.

Dartmouth’s £5.4million Health and Wellbeing Centre was officially opened in May 2023.

Based at the top of town in Dartmouth next to the park and ride, the building gives local people access to a broad range of health and wellbeing services in one place, by bringing together GPs, community nurses, therapists, Dartmouth Caring and Wellbeing Pharmacy.

The centre makes it easier for people to receive the care they need, in their community. It also allows the clinicians and specialists involved in providing someone’s care to work closer together to provide seamless joined-up care.

The building project was led by Torbay and South Devon’s strategic estates partner – gbpartnerships – with involvement from staff across our organisation, building work carried out by Westcountry building firm, Classic Builders, and support from a wide range of contractors, and our architects KTA.

Our multi-million-pound endoscopy centre at Torbay Hospital treats people who are awaiting diagnosis and treatment for cancer and bowel disease.

Torbay Hospital's Endoscopy Unit, building exterior

Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust’s endoscopy service carries out around 200 procedures a week with the centre enabling more people to be seen more quickly, resulting in a quicker diagnosis, and improved patient experiences and outcomes.

The centre was funded by NHS England to address diagnostic delays and improve cancer outcomes, and extra funding from the South West Endoscopy Training Academy to create a state-of-the-art training unit, which opened in November 2023 and is helping to train the region’s future endoscopists and nurses.

Our £15million operating theatre building at Torbay Hospital opened in February 2024 and is helping reduce the time people are waiting for surgery.

The building has two operating theatres and additional pre-operative assessment and recovery spaces. Over time this expansion of our theatres’ capacity will allow Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust to support 4,500 more people each year and reduce waiting lists by treating local people sooner.

One theatre is being used for breast and orthopaedic surgery, and this is helping provide a focus on day surgery hip, knee and shoulder replacements across the organisation. The other theatre is being used by the eye surgery team.

Dr Theresa Hinde, Clinical Director of Day Surgery and Consultant Anaesthetist at Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are so proud of our local, national and even international reputation for excellence in day surgery that has grown over the past 30 years. Around 85% of surgery at Torbay Hospital is undertaken as a day case which we know has tremendous benefits for the people we care for, and we currently support around 12,000 people a year though the unit.

The modern facilities provide a more comfortable space for people having an operation and are enhancing the working environment for staff.

The funding was received from the national Targeted Investment Fund (TIF) which is supports schemes across the country to provide additional elective care capacity.

The additional theatres mean more people, who require less complex surgery, will be seen and treated sooner than ever before. The theatres will also help to reduce the backlog of those patients with less urgent need as we continue to work together to improve people’s treatment, care and outcomes.