A generous donation from the League of Friends of Exmouth Hospital has allowed a number of refurbishment projects to take place, meaning the services provided there by the Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust can now better serve the community.

The League of Friends kindly donated £250,000 to fund this work, which included the reopening of the Geoffrey Willoughby Ward to provide facilities for pre- and post-operative care for day case surgery and the development of the day case corridor to provide a new general outpatients area.

Additional funding provided by NHS Property Services brought the total up to £1.5million and meant work could take place in the theatre recovery area, with a new air handling unit, refurbishment of Doris Heard Ward and its day room and corridors, and a new water supply to the Dewdney Unit.

David Bassett, Chairman of the Trustees for the League of Friends, said: “We hope that this work will help future proof the hospital and provide facilities to extend and improve the services here for the whole Woodbury, Exmouth & Budleigh Salterton area.”

The reopening of the Geoffrey Willoughby Surgical Ward also provided an opportunity for the Trustees to adopt the ornamental garden outside the ward, which had been created as a tribute to a former matron, the late Miss Nancy Kerslake, and has now received a much-needed restoration.

David said: “The ornamental garden is dedicated to our late Queen Elizabeth II, whose platinum jubilee last year coincided with ours. We are very grateful to the NHS Property Services facilities staff who used their volunteer days to clear the garden and do all the heavy work, planting to a design by one of the Trustees.”

Chris Tidman, Deputy Chief Executive of the Royal Devon, said: “I’d like to say a huge thank you to the League of Friends and to NHS Property Services. The funding they have provided and the work they’ve done will make a huge difference to the local community and to our colleagues as well, ensuring the hospital can provide the very best care to our patients.”