Anne Marie Morris MP recently visited the Torbay Hospital Horizon Centre. The Horizon Centre is a state-of-the-art environment on the Torbay Hospital site where people can explore new ideas, learn new techniques and reflect on clinical practice together. The Centre hosts many of Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust’s education and research initiatives, working with local education institutes, such as South Devon College, to help integrate this new clinical practice into the training of medical professionals.
The Horizon Centre benefited from a £660,000 redevelopment at the end of 2022, with the majority of the redevelopment project focusing on upgrading facilities and refurbishing the lower ground floor of the Centre, which included increasing the number of simulation suites used for training.
Anne Marie commented, saying: "I was quite blown away by the leading work being done to create a virtual reality which can co-exist with physical reality for patients to help them in so many ways. The headsets that deliver this reality can help recovery in many patient situations. The technology can help those with Parkinson’s and other challenging diseases of the elderly, and the potential is there for more. Absolutely fascinating and I am glad that the Trust are working with local education institutes to translate this learning to help future-proof clinical practices."