Helping people get moving again – Newton Abbot’s new gym equipment unveiled
People recovering from a stroke or a brain injury are getting stronger thanks to the generosity of Newton Abbot Hospital’s League of Friends.
Our Neuro Rehabilitation gym at Newton Abbot Community Hospital has been kitted out with new gym equipment including specialist cross trainers, weights, stability aids and an interactive video game strengthening tool to help people to get stronger and regain their mobility and confidence.
The hospital’s League of Friends generously donated £48,000 to support patients, and an additional £6,000 was donated by Discharge Coordinator Gill Wallach, who raised the incredible sum by completing sponsored walks, step challenges and arranging raffles to contribute towards the equipment.
Amy Davey, Advanced Clinical Practitioner for Stroke and Neuro Rehab at Newton Abbot Hospital said: “We are incredibly grateful to the League of Friends and Gill for their generosity. The equipment is having a huge impact on the rehab options for our stroke and brain injury patients who are either recovering in hospital having rehabilitation with support from the Community Neuro Rehab team once they’re back home.
“The equipment will allow us to gently push them beyond what we would have been able to do before and is helping them to become as independent as possible and getting them back to some level of normality following their brain injury, stroke or other neurological conditions.”
Ruth Robinson, Newton Abbot Hospital’s League of Friends’ Chair, said they were happy to support the hospital. She said: “We wanted to do something to support the community and we’re over the moon to see the equipment being used. It’s lovely seeing people enjoying it and knowing it’s helping them to get stronger.”
Cheryl is one of the people who is benefitting from the equipment to help her recover from a stroke. She said: “I’ve been to the gym every day and I feel good. I can feel myself getting stronger and the gym is really helping me.
“I live in a flat with lots of stairs and coming to the gym will help me to manage the stairs when I’m able to go home. Everyone at Newton Abbot Hospital have been amazing and so supportive to help me to recover and feel confident again.”
The equipment will be used to support around 500 people a year who are cared for by the team. You can learn more about the gym equipment in the video below.
Welcoming Spencer – our new inpatient pharmacy robot
Our inpatient pharmacy welcomed a new colleague last month – Spencer, our brand new automated dispensing robot, installed by Becton Dickinson U.K. Limited (BD). Named by our pharmacy team, Spencer replaces Robby, who served patients faithfully for more than 18 years and collected over 3.4 million packs of medicines during his long career.
Spencer is faster and designed to work seamlessly with our new electronic patient record (EPR) when it goes live in April. This means safer, more efficient dispensing and better support for patient care across our busy acute and community services.
Paul Foster, Chief Pharmacist, said: “The installation of Spencer marks a real step forward for our pharmacy service. Our team worked incredibly hard during the transition period — manually processing every prescription — to keep patients safe and ensure discharges could continue smoothly. Having Spencer now in place gives us speed, accuracy and reliability, and crucially, puts us in a strong position ahead of our EPR launch in April.”
Sven Thoresen for Becton Dickinson U.K. Limited added: “We’re delighted to partner with Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust to provide their new In-Patient robot. Automated dispensing technology provides significant workflow, efficiency and safety benefits, and we’re proud to support the Trust and the Pharmacy Team as it modernises its pharmacy infrastructure.”
A huge thank you goes to our pharmacy colleagues for their resilience and teamwork throughout the installation — especially over the Christmas period — and to our capital development team, who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to keep the project moving.
Spencer is already hard at work — and our teams are one step closer to the fully digital, streamlined service that our new EPR will enable.