Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital
The Royal Devon & Exeter NHS Foundation Trust is an acute and community Trust with 8,000 staff, covering Exeter, Mid and East Devon. Our purpose is to provide high quality healthcare. At the Royal Devon & Exeter we want to provide safe, high quality seamless services delivered with courtesy and respect.
Our reputation as an innovative leading acute hospital has developed over 250 years. The RD&E was one of the first Foundation Trusts to be created in the country and this status has enabled us to foster closer links and a better understanding of what local people expect and need from us now and for future planning.
We provide specialist and emergency hospital services to residents and visitors primarily in Exeter and East and Mid Devon, though patients also come from further afield in the South West and England because of our excellence. We have over 800 beds at the RD&E Wonford and Heavitree hospital sites in Exeter.
Increasingly we provide patient care closer to home including managing the day case surgery activity in Devon community hospital theatres, community midwifery services, stroke care, renal dialysis units and our innovative mobile eye clinic which takes specialist care out to our glaucoma patients in rural towns. The Trust delivers over 300,000 outpatient attendances and over 120,000 day case or inpatient admissions per year, with additional diagnostic and community service activity delivered in local communities.
We also make a significant contribution to world class research and development which improves the quality, experience and effectiveness of healthcare. The RD&E has a track record for piloting new ways of working and patient care for the Department of Health and the National Institute for Innovation, before it is rolled out across the NHS.
The achievements and improvements in patient care and experience can only be realised with the professional skills and dedication of our staff.
The Vocational Education team sit within Professional Development and our function is to provide development opportunities for the non-registered staff (Clinical Apprentices, Healthcare Assistants, Senior Healthcare Assistants and Assistant Practitioners).
Our provision for the clinical apprentices covers new and current employees to the Trust who wish to pursue a career in healthcare (16+) and undertake an advanced apprenticeship and those who are looking for a development opportunity through the higher apprenticeship.
We support approximately 80 advanced clinical apprentices and 15-20 higher apprentices annually.
The clinical apprentices work in a range of settings so could undertake any of the following clinical healthcare support qualifications:
Level 5 Diploma for Assistant Practitioners in a Healthcare setting
Apprenticeship Standard for Senior Healthcare Support Worker: -
Adult support
Children and young people
Maternity Support
Theatre Support
Allied Health – Therapy Support