Hospital marks 100 years of 'care and compassion'

Torbay Hospital has marked 100 years since its foundation stone was laid with a tree-planting event bringing together staff, community figures and partners to reflect on its past and future.

Guests gathered in the Rose Garden to see a magnolia tree planted as a "symbol of renewal and care for future generations", said the Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust.

Chief executive Joe Teape said: "Services have changed, medicine has advanced, and the hospital itself has evolved.

"But what hasn't changed is the commitment of our people, that sense of care and compassion that patients and families experience every day."

The hospital's roots go back to the 19th Century, before land donated in the 1920s helped create the site used currently on the outskirts of Torquay.

Teape explained the plot had been donated by Major Robert Kitson and two sisters, Ella Rowcoft and Violet Wills, had raised funds for the original building and matched donations. He said the whole population had been "extremely lucky, really, to have had those people back 100 years ago".

The original hospital building is still in use today, sitting alongside newer facilities on the expanding site.

Teape added that Torbay had long been ahead of the curve, telling how it had been "the first hospital, in the country to have an infection prevention" team in 1959.

He said the trust had also been a pioneer in day surgery, with patients able to come in, be treated and return home the same day.

Teape said he felt proud that, despite advances in medicine, the hospital's core values had not changed. He said "the care, kindness, and compassion that we see here at Torbay" had remained constant, adding that staff were deeply committed to the community they serve.

Looking ahead, he said local challenges such as deprivation and an ageing population continued to shape services, with new approaches designed to keep patients out of hospital where possible.

Teape said he felt "immensely privileged" to lead the trust during its centenary year and said the focus would remain on providing the best care possible despite pressures on the NHS.

Martin Beaman, chair of the Torbay and South Devon NHS Charity, which paid for the planting, said: "A century ago, local people came together with a clear purpose - to create something that would care for our communities for generations to come.

"What has grown and changed over that time is remarkable, but that purpose has remained constant."

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