North Devon MP Selaine Saxby has visited the South Molton Eye Centre to see how patients with eye conditions in Northern Devon and Torridge will now benefit from reduced waiting times and access to state-of-the-art equipment.

Ms Saxby, who was joined on the visit by Sarah Wollaston, Chair of NHS Devon, was given a tour of the new £1.4m facility, which opened in April, by Chris Tidman, Deputy Chief Executive Officer at the Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, and Josie Elt, Lead Imaging Technician at the facility.

Also taking part in the visit was David Goodman, Chairman of the South Molton Hospital League of Friends. The League’s generous donation of £500,000 made the opening of the new facility possible.

Chris Tidman said: “We were delighted to be able to show Selaine how this new centre is providing diagnostic services and treatments for people across North Devon.

“This is a great example of how we are making the best use of our hospital estate to improve access to care and increase capacity, to help us see our patients more quickly. The state of the art equipment provides a positive patient experience, complementing ophthalmology treatments currently provided at Bideford Community Hospital and North Devon District Hospital.”

Selaine Saxby said: “‘It was great to visit the new South Molton Eye Hub with Dr Sarah Wollaston, which is packed with state of the art equipment enabling all eye diagnostics to be undertaken in one place and tackle eye treatment backlogs. It was an excellent opportunity to showcase the fantastic work being done by the health teams in North Devon and what we can do to support and alleviate pressure in our healthcare system.”