The Royal Devon is preparing for another busy winter across the county following a sustained increase in the number of people attending its emergency departments throughout the autumn months and many people needing to be admitted to hospital.

Colleagues are working hard to ensure patients continue to receive timely and compassionate care when services are busy and we need you to help us help you.

Choose the right healthcare service

One of the ways people can help is by choosing the right healthcare service for their needs. This could mean using a minor injuries service, local pharmacy, or a GP practice. If you need urgent medical advice or reassurance, you can contact NHS 111 by phone or online at 111.nhs.uk.

Choosing the right service helps reduce pressure on our emergency services, which are for is for urgent, life-threatening conditions. This frees them up to help those who need it most, and also means you can get the care you need as soon as possible. Find out more about what’s available.

Our minor injuries units (MIUs) and walk-in centres (WICs) are available over winter, in most cases without an appointment, offering excellent service for when you have a medical problem that’s not critical or life-threatening, including minor cuts and wounds.

Pharmacies are also available to offer expert advice and treatments for minor illnesses. Remember to check with your GP practice and ensure you have enough of your prescription medication to get you through the bank holidays.

Please contact NHS 111 before travelling to a service over Christmas and New Year, as it may be closed or running reduced hours, and they will be able to advise you on what is open and available.

The NHSquicker app also provides up-to-date waiting times and opening hours for local services, based on your location, so you can easily check where your nearest available services are on bank holidays. Visit nhsquicker.co.uk for more information and to download the app.

Getting you home before the holidays

If you’re staying in hospital, our top priority is to help you get better and support you to leave hospital when the time is right. We know that people recover and rehabilitate better at home and, at this time of year in particular, it is important for people to be at home in comfortable surroundings with family and friends.

If you have a family member, a friend or a neighbour in hospital you can do to help support their discharge from hospital by staying in contact with the ward they are on, supporting with any necessary arrangements for discharge and understanding ongoing medication needs.

For more information please read our patient guide to discharge information leaflet, which includes a helpful discharge checklist.

Staying safe from winter illnesses

One of the best ways you can stay safe and help protect your loved ones this winter is to get your COVID-19 and flu vaccinations. If you are eligible for the free vaccines, but haven’t got them yet, please consider getting them as soon as possible. They are there to protect you and can help reduce the risk of you needing to be hospitalised in you catch either virus this winter.

More details on how to get the COVID-19 vaccination and the flu vaccination are available on the NHS website.

Finally, please help us by not visiting our hospitals and sites if you are showing any symptoms of respiratory diseases (including COVID-19 and flu) or any other infections like norovirus (such as diarrhoea and vomiting).

If you have an outpatient appointment and have symptoms of a virus, please call the number at the top of your letter to postpone your appointment.