Message from our Chairman

MESSAGE FROM OUR CHAIRMAN

A year like no other

Welcome to our annual report and accounts 2020/21. I was delighted to take on the role of chairman of UCLH Charity in October 2020 after six years as chairman of the investment committee. During my time as a trustee, I have seen at first hand the impact the charity makes on patient care at UCLH. It is an honour to become chairman of this wonderful charity. I would also like to record my sincere thanks to my predecessor, James Thorne whose leadership leaves the charity in an excellent position.

2020/21 has been a period of time like no other. Among the economic, social and political disruption that Covid-19 has wreaked upon us, the NHS has stepped up and truly delivered. It has not only cared for very sick patients in vast numbers, its researchers have developed vaccines which are being delivered to millions of people at pace. One of the world’s first vaccinations was delivered in the UK in December 2020, a beacon of hope around the world.

While we applaud the success, and welcome the public affection and gratitude for the NHS, we must recognise that this has been an extremely challenging time. UCLH was a regional centre for the sickest Covid-19 patients, with the ITU expanding to care for more and more patients who needed expert levels of care. The speed and ‘can do’ approach of staff was nothing short of phenomenal. Wards and recovery areas were converted to intensive care beds, staff were deployed to work in areas where they were needed and teams worked long, gruelling shifts in restrictive personal protective equipment. All the while, UCLH staff continued to perform emergency surgery, deliver babies, treat people with cancer and innovation continued to flourish. We were delighted that the UCLH/UCL/ Mercedes Ventura CPAP device, a ‘just-in-time’ Covid-19 solution won the Health Service Journal ‘Acute sector innovation of the year’ in March 2021. We are very proud that Professor Mervyn Singer, one of our trustees, was instrumental to the success of this project. The support that UCLH and indeed the wider NHS received was phenomenal; Captain Tom Moore captured the depth of feeling of the general public. His endeavours raised over £39m to put NHS Charities Together on the map. We were one of the founding organisations of NHS Charities Together and are delighted to see such success.

At UCLH, donations to our Covid-19 appeal, gifts in kind and food from numerous sources, including the #FeedtheNHS campaign kept staff going. They are immeasurably grateful, as are we. Special thanks must go to the fundraising and volunteering teams who sourced, packed and distributed thousands of goods, hot meals and essential items to staff on the frontline.

As we emerge from the pandemic (at the time of writing) we have much to be thankful for. But we also recognise that while the rest of the population gets back to ‘normal’, UCLH staff will be working as hard as ever. Waiting lists will be long, surgery will be more complex and diseases will be advanced. We will continue to be here to support patients and staff as well as encouraging innovation and enhancing what is already worldclass care as the NHS adapts to the new ‘normal’ over the coming months.

I would like to thank our charity team who have worked tirelessly to keep our show on the road during the pandemic. Finally, I would like to thank my fellow trustees for their valuable contribution throughout the period.

Lord Hemphill

Chairman