Kidderminster Hospital: £100k in funding raised by charity

Kidderminster Hospital League of Friends provided a wide range of equipment to benefit patients at the town hospital in Bewdley Road after trustees agreed to funding requests from departments ranging from gynaecology and dermatology, to minor injury unit and the Wyre Forest Ward.

The biggest purchase was for the Millbrook Suite cancer treatment centre for two scalp-cooling machines and cold caps for chemotherapy patients at a cost of £42,000.

Silicone caps are worn by patients before, during and after their chemotherapy sessions to keep their scalps cool and minimise hair loss.

The equipment helps reduce blood flow to hair follicles and so cuts the amount of drugs potentially damaging them.

Another major acquisition was a £28,000 ultrasound scanner for the hospital’s operating theatre.

Anaesthetists Dr Jeremy Thomas (left) and Dr Jaime Greenwood with the ultrasound scanner for the Kidderminster operating theatre (Image: Kidderminster Hospital League of Friends)

The machine enables doctors to pinpoint the exact location for anaesthetics so nerves can be blocked and only parts of the body numbed, reducing the risk to patients and cutting their time in hospital.

The library used by medical staff and students in the hospital’s education centre has also received more than £11,000 from the Friends to install the latest computerised access system for its books.

This work has put it in line with public, academic and university libraries by enabling visitors to issue and return books 24 hours a day.

Other units supported by the Friends since the turn of the year include Wyre Forest Ward, outpatients, cardiopulmonary, children’s clinic, oral facial surgery and orthodontics.

The main income for the Friends comes from takings at its popular hospital coffee shop, and it also benefits from legacies and donations from members of the public who want to support their local hospital.

Charity chairman Mike Shellie said: “We are proud of our success in maintaining and extending services at our hospital but the biggest thank-you goes to our volunteers and local people who support our fund-raising.

“Without them we could not make such an important contribution.”