A new look for a part of the Trust’s charitable funds has been launched to breathe new life into our fundraising activities for the benefit of patients and staff.
The Trust’s charity has been renamed and is now called North Cumbria Hospitals NHS Charity, supporting the Cumberland Infirmary and West Cumberland Hospital. The charity exists to provide resources and facilities to meet the needs of our patients and their families.
The charity covers costs of projects and initiatives which are not covered by core NHS funding. This includes (but not limited to):
- medical equipment
- enhancing patient’s environment
- patients outings/ entertainment
- additional patient support
- staff training/ education
- research and development
- team development activities
- staff wellbeing
The charity is currently raising funds to help support the following projects:
- Healing Arts Music Medicine: bring live music to wards and public spaces at a community and acute hospitals to give patients an interactive activity to help with wellbeing, mobility and mental health.
- Keeping Patients Connected: The project is run by highly trained volunteers who help patients access and use digital technology to contact their family and friends while visiting is limited.
- Staff Wellbeing: Mental Health Training, Art and Complementary Therapy Sessions, improving rest areas etc.
It is also fundraising to support the general funds and staff wellbeing projects through various fundraising events.
One of the services to benefit from charitable funds was the Gastroenterology department which bought a fibroscan machine for £50,000. The stroke unit at CIC also bought some useful equipment.
Consultant Paul Davies said: “Over the years we have spent charitable money given to the stroke service a number of ways.
“We have bought equipment for rehabilitation such as standing frame, moto-med, neurostimulators and equipment for to help speech and language rehabilitation
“We have also used the money for furnishings. We have bought TVs for the cubicles and we have furnished a relative room.
“Importantly, we also use the money to help nurses and therapists attend conferences, workshops and meeting so that that they can keep up to date and ensure we are using the best practice in north Cumbria.”
Consultant Denis Burke said: “With the aid of charitable funds we were able to purchase a fibroscan ( transient elastography) machine, which is a non-invasive, painless way of quantifying liver fibrosis (or scarring) using an ultrasound technique.
“With access to this machine we were able to start up a fibroscanning service that helps us:
- Stage liver disease to inform the management strategy for individual patients
- Avoid some liver biopsies
- Avoid unnecessary ultrasounds as patients with low fibroscan scores do not require ongoing surveillance
- Streamline the assessment and review process of liver disease patients, reducing time and outpatient visits for patients
- Helps triage referrals to secondary care and avoid unnecessary acute referrals
“The early detection and implementation of disease management programs will greatly improve clinical outcomes, reduce emergency admissions, improve mortality and reduce costs.
“The progression of liver disease through to cirrhosis starts with increasing fibrosis that can be detected in a non-invasive way using the fibroscan.”
Michael Smillie, Director of Finance Digital and Estates at NCIC, said: “We are always grateful for donations to the Trust’s charity and each year we are astounded at the length’s people go to raise money for the NCIC. People have a lot of fun raising cash and we love hearing their stories as to why they chose NCIC as their charity.”
Clare Warwick, Charity Fundraising Lead at NCIC, said: “I am so excited to be a part of the charity relaunch, it is fantastic to see so many people supporting our charity and passionate about making a real difference.”
If you have an fundraising idea and would like support please contact: ncm-tr.fundraising@nhs.net