Donations

Patients with cardiac problems need to have their heart rate/rhythm and blood pressure monitored over a period to enable their consultant to diagnose their condition.

Tim Wickman, Consultant Paediatrician, asked the Friends if they could help with the purchase of four new incubators for the Starlight Neo-Natal Unit. Their current models were painfully out of date and in need of replacement.

The Friends were approached by the Facilities Manager Danny West about the Hospital Video Security System. The system uses VHS tape recorders which are well past their best and need replacing, The Friends agreed to fund £38,224.00 to refurbish the system and replace the VHS recorders with DVD recorders.

Lymphoedema is a complication that arises as a result of trauma to the lymph nodes, causing swelling to the limbs and sometimes the trunk. Currently there is no cure for this condition and once it has developed it becomes a chronic condition.

Videofluoroscopy is a diagnostic X-ray of swallowing that is done as a moving image and saved to video/DVD. The present equipment is very old and gives limited diagnostic ability due to poor vision and lack of sound as well as a bright green slightly out of focus picture. This service is run by the Speech and Language Therapy Department and currently they hold a clinic every other week.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is the forth leading cause of mortality in the U.K and is responsible for 15% of all hospital admissions. Barnet Hospital has some 260 COPD patients in any one year who require non-invasive ventilation. Treatment improves the patients health, while reducing the time in hospital and preventing morbidity which is associated with prolonged ICU admissions.

John Savage and his sister Anne Klahn had written in praise of the treatment and care their mother Winifred Savage received from the staff in the A&E Department, the Clinical Decision Unit and finally Rowan Ward, where sadly she died a few days later.

Colin Eiton asked if the Friends could fund the purchase of two Digital Image Acquisition Kits complete with video cards, cabling and software and including one day on site for installation and testing. These units are urgently needed to bridge the gap between the hospital information system and the Day Unit reporting system.The Friends were only too glad to oblige and are earmarking £7,000 for this purpose.

Community midwives are required to weigh the baby every time they visit a mother and child at home. The Friends were asked to provide portable scales for the seven community midwives who are based at the hospital. The Friends Committee agreed and we supplied the scales at a cost of £1,800.

The Fern Unit, located beside I T U, is the admission lounge for Barnet Hospital's elective surgical patients, which is run by the theatre recovery' staff.

Due to the same day admissions policy in Barnet the throughput has increased and looking after patient's medical notes had become rather a problem.