'Special measures' lifted for some health services

NHS Devon and the Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust have been removed from the health service's recovery support programme

Parts of Devon's health service have been removed from "special measures" after recording improvements.

NHS Devon and the Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (RDUHCT) were put into the health service's recovery support programme after they were assessed in 2022/23.

The organisations had been placed into the National Oversight Framework Segment 4 – the lowest category in the national assessment.

An NHS spokesman said NHS Devon and RDUHCT both left the programme in August 2025 after making improvements.

"The previous RSP exit criteria no longer apply to both organisations having demonstrated sufficient progress against all exit criteria for leadership, urgent and emergency care and elective performance," they said.

"NHS Devon will continue to receive support for finance and strategy, and we will be agreeing a medium-term financial plan, and health and care strategy by the end of September to set us on a strong footing going forward."

RDUHCT runs North Devon District Hospital and Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital.

The NHS said University Hospitals Plymouth and Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trusts remained on the RSP and would be "supported regionally and nationally to achieve sufficient progress to exit", according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

Chris Morley, locality director at NHS Devon, said the organisation's departure from the programme reflected "the progress made in a number of areas".

"We know there is still more to do to improve outcomes for patients, but it is good to acknowledge the progress made."

RDUHCT has been approached for comment.

'Hard work'

A spokesperson for Royal Devon said: "In the recently published NHS League Tables and National Oversight Framework, the Royal Devon was placed in segment three and was ranked 54th out of 134 acute and community trusts across England.

"We feel this recognises the hard work of our colleagues in the care we deliver while reflecting the journey we are on to continuously improve the services we provide to our patients."

They added Royal Devon recognised there were still challenges ahead but would continue to "do more to address both waiting lists and our financial position and will continue to develop plans for the delivery of services in the future".