Lincolnshire Community and Hospitals NHS Group shares how your NHS charity donation helps
Our NHS charities provide an invaluable service, writes Elaine Baylis, group chair at Lincolnshire Community and Hospitals NHS Group.
Lincolnshire Community and Hospitals NHS Group is made up of two organisations, Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust (LCHS) and United Lincolnshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (ULTH).
We have two charities, Lincolnshire NHS Charity for our community trust and United Lincolnshire Hospitals Charity for our acute hospitals.
Both charities enhance the healthcare experience for patients, families and communities, as well as supporting the wellbeing of our committed NHS staff. The charities fund equipment and activities that would not normally be purchased by the NHS; the little extras that can make a big difference.
Last year, donated money supported LCHS patients and staff through funding a therapy dog for Welland ward at Johnson Community Hospital, in Spalding. Bran the dog is loved by staff and patients alike and instantly made a positive impact on everyone.
Another example of money well spent, was purchasing activity resources to help facilitate patient recovery on Scotter ward at John Coupland Hospital, in Gainsborough. As many of you may know, recovery can be a long process, especially for older adults, so it’s important there are engaging and enjoyable activities to keep patients busy and mentally active, such as bingo, jigsaws and puzzle books.
Lincolnshire NHS Charity also supports our mental health trust, Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. Funds were used to help their Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service Learning Disability team with their wellbeing through a craft workshop.
United Lincolnshire Hospitals charity has also had a busy year, giving almost £1million to help improve the lives of staff, patients and their families. The charity purchased an MRI Play Therapy Kitten Scanner for Grantham and District Hospital, to support children who need an MRI scan, by demonstrating what will happen, to put the children at ease and so preventing the need for sedation.
Also, thanks to generous donations, scalp cooling devices were bought, to reduce hair loss in patients receiving chemotherapy. These were greatly appreciated, and were said to help give cancer patients focus and strength during treatment.
Coming up, in May Lincolnshire NHS Charity has the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge and United Lincolnshire Hospital Charity has their Annual Wolds Walk, a ten-mile route through ancient woodlands and picture postcard villages.
As you can see from the few examples I’ve given, our charities provide an invaluable service, which benefit Lincolnshire people.
If you would like to support them or find out more, please visit Lincolnshire NHS charity and United Lincolnshire Hospitals charity.
