Kitty Odell from Bristol was fit and healthy when she received her third bowel cancer screening home test as part of the routine screening offer provided by the NHS to people in the South West who are aged 50 to 74. Without any concerning symptoms, Kitty left the test on the side for several weeks […]

The NHS national booking service has opened today (Tuesday 25 March) for eligible people to book their COVID-19 spring vaccinations. NHS teams have been working to make it as easy as possible for people to get jabbed close to home. This includes 482 community pharmacies across the South West, who will be providing the vaccination […]

We are pleased to announce that Dr Trevor Smith has been appointed as NHS England’s new Regional Medical Director for the South West. A prominent Gastroenterologist and international expert on clinical nutrition and intestinal failure, Dr Smith has held a number of leadership roles, including serving as President of the British Association for Parenteral and […]

Around 100 frontline NHS staff from across the South West will be joined by NHS England directors in Taunton today (4th March 2025) to discuss what they want to see from the government’s 10 Year Health Plan. It is the last in a series of events where frontline NHS staff across the breadth of the […]

The NHS in England has launched its first ever awareness campaign to highlight the benefits of breast cancer screening. The campaign comes as annual data shows that 27% of eligible women in the South West are not up to date with their regular mammograms and over one in ten (12%) of those eligible have never […]

Rapper and health activist Professor Green is helping the NHS raise awareness among families about the importance of children looking after their teeth, by launching an exciting competition to all primary schools across the South West. He says he only realised later in life how not brushing properly twice a day affected his own physical […]

The NHS in the South West is encouraging people to find out where their local sexual assault referral centre (SARC) is as part of Sexual Abuse and Sexual Violence Awareness Week (3 February – 9 February 2025). There are 6 SARCs located across the region, which provide help 24/7. This includes crisis care, medical and […]

I am Lianne Clarke, Health Development Manager working with Somerset Activity and Sports Partnership (SASP). As an active partnership, we work with the NHS to find ways to encourage people to lead healthier and happier lives by bringing physical activity and movement into health and care plans. SASP’s health work spans across social prescribing, reconditioning […]

Nursing students in the South West are urging people to follow them into the NHS by applying for a healthcare degree course. In 2024, 20,920 people in England accepted a place on a nursing degree. In 2025, there are places on courses across the South West for those who want to follow suit, including school-leavers […]

  I am Briony Bond, a High Intensity Cognitive Behavioural Therapist working with Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. My role is to assess and treat common mental health disorders such as depression, anxiety disorders like Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), panic, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). These are delivered in person or via video call […]