A six-year-old boy and his mum and dad today became the first family in the South West to take part in ground-breaking DNA research at the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust (RD&E) to help fight rare health conditions.
Noah Puleston, from Honiton, has moderate to severe learning difficulties after showing signs of delayed development from an early age. The cause of his difficulties has so far remained a mystery but he and his family now have an opportunity to unlock the mystery and achieve a clearer diagnosis after the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust (RD...
Renal patient Kim Balsdon, 21 from Patchacott, has raised £5,000 for rare disease charity atypical Haemolytic Uraemic Syndrome UK (aHUSUK) by completing a 50 mile sponsored walk.
Kim, who suffers from aHUS herself, walked from Illand near Launceston to the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital over three days.
Atypical haemolytic uraemic syndrome (aHUS) is a rare disease that causes blood clots to form in the filtering units of the kidneys. In most cases it is genetic in origin and it can rapidly cause kidney failure.
On Rare Disease Day (28th Feb) Kim began the first leg...
Tim and Vickie raise money to help bereaved parents make memories Tim and Vickie Hamilton, from Doddiscombsleigh, have donated £2350 to the Maternity Unit at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital to help other bereaved parents make memories with their babies. Tim and Vickie sadly lost their third child, Cameron, when he was stillborn in September 2013. After doctors were unable to find Cameron’s heartbeat, Vickie became extremely unwell and spent time in Intensive Care and on the Labour Ward in the hospital’s ‘Heartsease’ bereavement room. It was their time spent here that inspired them to...
Owl Men, tame dragons and the Gruffalo are just some of the characters that young patients in Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital are getting to know better as part of a new scheme bringing the power of books and storytelling to seriously ill children. The RD&E successfully applied to the charity ReadWell, which uses money raised by local school children to fund a regular supply of brand new books and professional storytellers into the hospital. Schools around Devon who have supported the charity by running sponsored Readathons include Wystream Primary and West Exe School. ReadWell’s...
Several members of staff at the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust have been recognised for their exceptional contribution to the hospital and its patients at the winter Extraordinary People Awards. The seasonal awards are a way of celebrating extraordinary staff that do exceptional things every day and often go above and beyond to provide high quality services. Nominations are made by fellow staff members who want to acknowledge the contribution of an individual or team, and the difficult decision of choosing a winner in each category is undertaken by a panel of judges. The...
Dr Gretel Finch has been able to return to her career in research thanks to the help and support she received whilst volunteering at the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust (RD&E).
Having worked as a Research Scientist for many years, including posts at the BBSRC Institute of Food Research and the University of Bristol, Gretel took a career break to care for her young family. During this time she helped set up a breast feeding support group and trained as a Peer Support Counsellor.
In the summer of 2012, Gretel was keen to return to her research career but...
Local artists have again been brightening up the corridors of the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital with their annual Friends and Family art exhibition.
Now in its 16th year, the exhibition has been organised by Exeter HealthCare Arts to showcase the work of the local arts community who have a connection to the hospital. The exhibitors include talented RD&E staff, outpatients and former patients, who have all loaned their work to help brighten up the hospital environment.
Exeter HealthCare Arts (EHCA) is the ‘arts for health’ project for the RD&E. It delivers a range...
Monitor is investigating the commissioning of community services in Devon worth more than £100 million over three years. The health sector regulator stepped in after receiving a complaint from Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust, a provider of acute and community services including district nursing and community matrons. The complaint is about NHS Northern, Eastern and Western Devon Clinical Commissioning Group’s decision to name the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust as its preferred provider of community services for the eastern part of the CCG’s area. Monitor will review the...
A ground-breaking genomic medicine project, which aims to establish England as a world leader in the fight against cancer and rare disease, will be led in the South West by the Royal Devon & Exeter NHS Foundation Trust (RD&E) working in partnership with other hospitals across Somerset, Devon and Cornwall.
The RD&E has been selected today by NHS England as one of 11 centres in England that will jointly lead its 100,000 Genomes Project.
The project involves collecting and decoding 100,000 human genomes – complete sets of people’s genes – that will enable...
Christmas came early for the children and teenagers on Bramble Ward at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital when they received a special visit from the stars of Exeter City Football Club.
With the help of Build-a-Bear, the players from the club gave out dozens of bears, signed merchandise and other presents to the young patients to help bring some Christmas cheer to the ward. The players who visited were Scot Bennett, Pat Baldwin, Matt Oakley, Matt Grimes, David Noble, Ryan Harley, Clinton Morrison and Christy Pym.
The players, who were all dressed in Santa suits, chatted...
