We were delighted to welcome Liberal Democrat party leader Sir Ed Davey and local MP Ian Roome to North Devon District Hospital (NDDH) today to learn about our plans to build a better hospital in North Devon.

Sir Ed and Ian were shown some of our estate which is most in need of investment, our operating theatres and intensive care unit, and heard more about how we intend to redevelop these spaces with new facilities as part of the Our Future Hospital (OFH) programme. OFH was set up in response to NDDH’s inclusion in the Government’s New Hospital Programme and aims to rebuild our hospital estate to make it fit for the future.

The MPs were shown the first steps in our programme in action with the build of our new admin facility, Yeo View. They also saw our 50-year-old residences which are being demolished so they can be replaced with new modern spaces. This will help boost recruitment and retention levels, which is crucial to delivering a sustainable local service into the future.

They were welcomed on the visit by our Chair, Dame Shan Morgan and members of the Our Future Hospital team.

As well as highlighting plans to upgrade our services for the future, the visit also provided an opportunity for staff to share their experiences of providing care at the hospital.

Shan Morgan, Chair at Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We were delighted to welcome Ed and Ian to our hospital to share our plans to build a better hospital in North Devon, so that the most remote hospital in mainland England can continue to meet the healthcare needs of the local population for years to come.”