STAFF at Okehampton Medical Centre have said they hope that two new pieces of advanced medical equipment will improve patient care and reduce the amount of patients needing to travel to Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital.

The medical centre has received two cardiocall machines, which monitors patients with transient heart health symptoms and records the results to be downloaded by the doctor, enabling a speedy diagnosis.

The second piece of equipment was a hyfrecator — a machine that will enable minor surgical procedures to be carried out in Okehampton.

A hyfrecator is a low-powered medical apparatus used in electrosurgery on conscious patients, usually in an office setting. It is used to destroy tissue directly and to stop bleeding during minor surgery.

The new equipment was obtained thanks to Okehampton Medial Centre’s Patient Participation Group (PPG) and Okehampton United Charities, which made a substantial contribution towards the vital medical treatment machines.

Kiran Bakhshi, Okehampton Medical practice manager, said that the new machines would help to reduce patient dependence on other hospitals, such as the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital.

She said: ‘The hyfrecator allows our specialist dermatology GP partner Dr Barker to perform procedures at the medical centre rather than patients having to travel to Exeter.

‘The cardiocall machines are handheld heart monitors that can help your doctor to see if any symptoms you might be experiencing are associated with changes in your heart rate and rhythm. The medical centre greatly appreciates the donation of two cardiocall machines — one by the PPG and one by OUC.

‘We would like to thank Okehampton United Charities for their generous donations, the PPG for their fundraising activities and all those members of the community who attended events and made donations to help towards the purchase of the hyfrecator and cardiocall machines.’

Hugh Norman, chair of the PPG, said: ‘Our fundraising group held a quiz night, a coffee morning and a fun day to raise funds for the equipment.

‘We are striving to raise money for the hospital because there is an increasing amount of equipment available to the medical centre that the NHS do not always provide funding for.

‘We only started fundraising in the last 18-months and have so far contributed £650 to the hyfrecator and £500 to the cardiocall machine. We will continue to fund raise in order to buy equipment that will benefit the needs of patients.’

Over the coming months the PPG will be fundraising at the medical centre and village hall flu clinics amongst other events.

If you would like to join the PPG and help raise funds for medical equipment, contact the practice manger by sending an email to [email protected] or the PPG chair, [email protected]