Photo: Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Deputy Divisional Nurse Director for Medicine (left) and Clinical Business Manager Karen Hatch accept the donation from Gujarat Hindu Society Vice-President Ishwerbhai Tailor.
Generous members of Preston’s Gujarat Hindu Society have made a donation of £7,000 that will be used to fund improvements in the Critical Care Unit and Renal Ward at Royal Preston Hospital.
The society, founded in 1965, made the donation through the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Charity after the success of its annual community fundraising event, which took place online for the first time this year.
Society member Dr Neelam Patel said: “Every year we support local charities and this year we chose Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust for their tremendous hard work during the Covid pandemic. One of the principles of the Hindu religion is selfless service (‘seva’) and we felt that the staff of the Trust have demonstrated this throughout the pandemic.
“Each year we hold a fundraising event at the temple with all the community being together singing devotional songs and prayers. However due to the restrictions this year we held the event virtually through Zoom and had over 100 families taking part. During the event members were able to donate by phone or later in person. The donations came not only from our community in Preston, but from all over the UK, America and Canada.
“Once again we would like to extend our heartfelt thanks and support to Lancashire Teaching Hospitals and hope that you will accept this donation as a token of our appreciation.”
In the Renal Ward, £5,300 will be used to buy two ‘tilt in space’ chairs. They will be used for patients who need postural support when sitting out of bed to reduce pressure injuries and support their breathing, and those who have had lower limb amputations.
Deputy Divisional Nurse Director for Medicine Nora Kerigan said: “Having these chairs as a resource on the Renal Ward and readily available for use will support the early mobilisation and rehabilitation needs of patients and should prevent deconditioning in patients who often require a long length of stay on our ward.
“Being able to use these chairs will improve patient’s overall health and wellbeing while they are on the ward.”
In the Critical Care Unit, £1,700 will support the purchase of additional Multicare ICU beds and Dolphin Therapy mattresses. The combination of the Multicare specialist bed and Dolphin Therapy surface provides benefits for the most complex patients, including those treated for severe COVID-19 symptoms.
Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Clinical Business Manager Karen Hatch said: “We are overwhelmed by the generosity of this donation from the members of the Gujarat Hindu Society.
“The Critical Care Unit is undergoing an expansion and refurbishment and are looking to purchase sufficient beds to ensure that we have at least two in each area of the unit so that we have this type of bed readily available for use. We know that early mobility increases patients’ outcomes and complications in mobility significantly increases a patient’s length of stay in hospital.”
Find out more about supporting the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Charity at https://lthcharity.org.uk/
