A DOCTOR from Chudleigh is embarking on a feat of endurance in support of a cause close to his heart. 

Dr Simon Scott-Hayward, a long-serving volunteer at BASCIS Devon, is gearing up for the Rat Race Coast2Coast challenge.

Simon, a GP with expertise in urgent and emergency care and medical director for South West Ambulance Service, has been in training for the gruelling event. 

Taking place on September 14 and 15, the challenge will see Simon trek, run, cycle on and off-road, and kayak 100 miles across the Scottish Highlands.

Simon, from Olchard, is one of a team of 13 medics who support emergency care in rural areas of Devon. 

He said: ‘This is a personal challenge that I would like to use to support the valuable work of BASICS Devon. 

‘As a charity we want to support our rural communities with additional clinical volunteers. 

‘BASICS Devon is working with South Western Ambulance Service to develop community clinical volunteers; paramedics, nurses or doctors who respond to support sick and injured patients in Devon’s rural communities.’

BASICS Devon plays a critical role in enhancing emergency medical care in the county’s most remote locations. 

Funds raised from Simon’s challenge will contribute to the recruitment, training and equipment of the community volunteers.

Since January, BASICS Devon emergency volunteers attended 251 callouts, first on scene at 40per cent.

It provides a network of 13 emergency volunteer doctors providing immediate access to specialist medical care at the scene of an accident or illness at the request of the ambulance service.