Supporting our Priority Appeal means we can continue to ensure the most urgent needs of the hospitals are addressed quickly as well as help any area to secure items that are ‘over and above’ the remit of NHS funding.
The Priority fund can be used to purchase state-of-the-art equipment, improve patient areas, support additional services and create new relaxation spaces, among other things.
Your donation could contribute to a range of projects including:
- Being in hospital can be a distressing time for both patients and their loved ones. Resources such as craft kits can enable a welcome creative distraction from the stresses of treatment and provide activities to bring patients, staff, and visitors together through shared enjoyment.
- Receiving a diagnosis can feel as though your life has been put on hold. We fund complementary therapy for cancer patients, special pillows for epileptic patients, and much more.
- Pioneering research projects to ensure our hospital remains at the forefront of medical care, benefitting not just patients in Southampton, but right across the UK.
Whether you choose to set up a regular gift or make a one-off donation, your support is guaranteed to be used where the need is greatest, as soon as the need arises.
What’s more, your kindness will directly impact the lives of patients who desperately need it.
Here’s what we’ve recently funded:
- Birthday box: You can never plan for when you need hospital care, therefore we share many celebrations with our patients including birthdays and weddings. Through our Priority Appeal, we’ve funded a birthday box so patients can still celebrate their special day with their loved ones and our nurses. It means so much to the families, such as Ashlea’s first birthday!
- Wedding box: Hospital treatment can also bring people closer together, so we provide accessories for in-hospital weddings including flowers, wedding dress, guestbook, and decorations. This helps to make their day that little bit more special, and takes stress away at such an emotional time.
- Gifts and certificates for children: You are a child and you’ve come into Southampton Children’s Hospital with your parents for an MRI scan as the doctor has asked for a test. You’re nervous, and the machine is loud. Finally, it is over and as you step out of the room, you are presented with a certificate of bravery and a small gift to enjoy. Suddenly, the hospital doesn’t seem as scary anymore.
- Motion watches for sleep patterns: You feel tired all of the time. You fall asleep in class. Then when you go to bed, sleep eludes you, but you don’t know why. You are referred to a sleep clinic where, rather than spending the night in hospital, you just have to wear a special watch that will monitor your sleep patterns.
- Specialist equipment to detect kidney injuries: Each year the Acute Medical Unit sees 200 patients with Acute Kidney Injuries. It is essential that they are treated quickly and effectively to prevent future issues. We’ve funded a point-of-care testing (POCT) machine that allows staff to provide targeted, effective, life-saving care for acute admissions with AKI. It’s already saving lives
Emma Squires, Patient Support Hub Manager, says,
“When the coronavirus pandemic hit, we had thousands of patients who were isolated and vulnerable due to their existing medical conditions. Many were scared, and unsure of what would happen next.
Without initial funding from the priority appeal, we could never have set up the Patient Support Hub.
Within the first few weeks of the pandemic, we were able to support and reassure these patients and explain the guidance to them, whilst offering further help and support.
The service has been referred to as a ‘lifeline to the outside world’ and it continues to go from strength to strength.”
Beth Hall, Head of Operations, Southampton Hospitals Charity, says:
“Your support to our priority fund will allow us to help transform and improve areas most in need at University Hospital Southampton and ensure that we focus on the wellbeing of our hospital staff when they need it most.
Hospitals have had to react quickly to ever evolving situations over the past year and it’s only through donations to our priority fund that we can ensure we continue to have the flexibility to support our staff and patients where the need is greatest.”
Updated: 13.12.2022