UHCW Charity is grateful to everyone who has donated to their NHS Superheroes Appeal, which has raised almost £80,000. The Charity has also benefited from NHS Charities Together funds. UHCW Charity wants to thank everyone who has supported our hospitals as we face the second phase of the pandemic, helping us to make things better for our staff, our patients and their families.
UHCW Charity requested donations at the beginning of the pandemic. Thanks to a quick response from individuals, community groups and corporate donors, they were able to fund Superhero Care Boxes for staff working on the frontline and 80 iPads for patients on COVID-19 positive wards, who were unable to have visits from friends and family.
As staff adjusted to the impact of COVID-19, UHCW Charity was able to fund urgent grant requests as routine services became negatively affected by COVID-19.
The cardiac rehabilitation programmes at both Coventry and Rugby hospitals had to be stood down. This potentially left all cardiac patients with no means for structured rehabilitation. UHCW Charity funded 60 Heart Manuals for the Cardiac Rehab Team, a well-established NHS service providing evidence-based programmes for individuals recovering from coronary artery bypass surgery, percutaneous coronary intervention and heart failure. This allowed rehabilitation to carry on at home, meaning high risk patients could avoid coming into the hospital during the worst of the pandemic.
Cardiac rehabilitation patient Mark told us, ‘Having a resource that I can use at home, and look at on a week by week basis to track my progress, made me feel very supported alongside my rehab phone calls.’
As restrictions lifted UHCW Charity stepped in to fund projects to support staff wellbeing, as the impact of what they had been through started to show.
Thank you cards were funded for the Critical Care teams who worked incredibly hard to care for patients during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic this summer. Managers found that the team don’t think of themselves as heroes, so UHCW Charity funded thank you cards for them all to highlight how much they are appreciated and to help show the magnitude of the job they are doing.
UHCW Charity also funded 4 TRiM managers and 16 TRiM Practitioners across St Cross and University Hospital. TRiM is an evidence-based post-incident management process designed to reduce the long term mental health impact of exposure to potentially traumatic events. TRiM is used to enhance the current wellbeing support for staff dealing with Covid-19.
As we go into the winter months, UHCW Charity is aware of the challenges staff and patients face due to the ongoing risk of COVID-19 and the approaching winter flu season. Additionally, delayed projects need vital funding to continue. UHCW Charity exists to make things better for staff, patients and their families. Now, at a time when the NHS is stretched like never before, support is needed more than ever.
“Our hospital staff have faced the toughest of challenges over the course of this pandemic, risking their own mental and physical health to look after us all. Just knowing that you care enough to donate and support them, helps them to keep going and to treat our loved ones suffering from Covid-19, holding the hand of far too many of them as they pass away. As they prepare for the second wave of this pandemic, we would all like to thank you for your amazing support.”
Jo O’Sullivan, UHCW Charity Director