RUH Critical Care Unit celebrates charity donations

Staff at the RUH Critical Care Unit are celebrating generous charity donations that will help support its major refurbishment project and modernise and further improve patient care.

The hospital League of Friends has donated £150,000 to the Unit to install new electronic equipment – called patient service columns – beside each patient's bed.

The £150,000 target was set by the hospital's charity, The Forever Friends Appeal, and has been exceeded thanks to the League of Friends, local Rotary Clubs and individual donors. Musician and BBC radio presenter Tom Robinson also raised more than £10,000 from a concert in memory of his band's guitarist, Danny Kustow, who died in the Unit earlier this year.

The Critical Care team delivers lifesaving treatment to the most unwell and most vulnerable 2% of the RUH patient population. Around 850 patients are treated in the Unit every year, with 87% being discharged to an appropriate ward for continuing care.

A special celebration event was held at the RUH to thank supporters of the Unit, including patients and their families.

Stan Barker, Chair of the RUH League of Friends said: "We decided to donate the full £150,000 after seeing the incredible work the staff do in the unit and the real need for new equipment like the patient service columns.

"I would like to thank all of our staff, our volunteers and the public for helping to raise the money, which is mostly through our café and hospital shop, as well as from donations and legacies."

Andy Georgiou, Critical Care Lead Consultant said: "Thank you to The Forever Friends Appeal, the League of Friends and all of the supporters for helping to raise the money needed for the refurbishment of our unit.

"This is going to revolutionise patient care here in the RUH through the installation of patient service columns. These columns will house a new clinical information system at the bedside and provide medical equipment, electrical power and gasses from a single convenient point.

This means we will have improved access to the patient for emergency or special procedures right when we need it. Electronic data also means we'll be able to offer much more nursing time to care for our patients."

Tom Robinson said: "The care my friend Danny received at the RUH was exemplary over a number of years and particularly so in Critical Care in the last days of his life. Staff were so welcoming and personal. Huge thanks to everyone in Critical Care – you deserve all the support you get and more power to your elbow."

ENDS

For more information contact:

Rebecca Hedges, Marketing and Communications Officer on 01225 826282 or email: Rebecca.hedges@nhs.net

Notes to Editor:

• The Forever Friends Appeal is the charity for the Royal United Hospitals, Bath. As well as fundraising for major campaigns, we raise funds for the hospital's wards and departments to pay additional specialist equipment and facilities, research and innovations, staff training and the creation of welcoming and highly beneficial healing environments for our patients and their families. Each year we invest in projects that go above and beyond what the NHS can provide.
• This year, The Forever Friends Appeal is celebrating their 20th anniversary and we are inviting the public to join us celebrating, rediscover how we've supported patient care at the RUH and help us fundraise for some very special appeals – Breast Unit and The Friendly Faces Project for patients living with Dementia.
• For more information about the Appeal visit: www.foreverfriendsappeal.co.uk

• The Critical Care campaign was launched in July 2018 to raise a minimum of £150,000 for the unit.
• Refurbishing the unit will allow the RUH to upgrade the systems for effectively managing the equipment and the associated patient data and provide an further improved environment for staff to treat patients in emergencies when every second is vital to providing lifesaving treatment.
• The unit plans to install Patient Care Service Columns (pictured below) to better manage the lifesaving equipment found around the patient's bed. This will help dramatically transform and enhance patient safety in time critical, life threatening scenarios.

• The Critical Care team delivers lifesaving treatment to the most unwell and most vulnerable 2% of the RUH patient population. The Critical Care Unit (an umbrella term for the Intensive Care and High Dependency units) has 13 beds and treats any patient of any age with any life threatening condition.
• 850 patients are treated in the RUH Critical Care Unit, every year. They look after patients with a whole variety of problems, such as severe pneumonia, cardiac arrest, cancer, organ failure, life threatening infections affecting any part of the body and severe sepsis, complications around pregnancy, and following major elective surgery.
• 87% of patients are discharged to an appropriate ward for continuing care when no longer requiring critical care.

Download printable version