Volunteer Friends provide £126,000 of equipment to Truro hospital The Friends of the Royal Cornwall Hospital spent over £126,000 in 2012 on items to benefit staff and patients at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro. The £126,709 went to a wide range of departments for everything from breastfeeding chairs and staff room cupboards to specialist storage cabinets and Endoscopes. Dermatology was one of the most recent departments to benefit receiving four high seat chairs, one bariatric chair and a Hyfrecator and Surgical Smoke Extractor. Julie Knowles, Dermatology Lead Nurse, said: “We are so pleased with the items we received. It has been fantastic and made a huge difference. Our patients had requested the higher chairs and we can now say we have done that.” The donation of the Hyfrecator machine has meant the Dermatology team are able to put all three of their treatment rooms into action at the same time. Julie said: “We had two Hyfrecator machines but with the donation of the third it means we can now treat more patients here.” The Hyfrecator machine is used to cauterize wounds when a patient is having an area of skin removed and it removes any odours that may occur during the process. The Wheal Prosper team have also greatly benefited from a Friends donation. During a visit to their ward earlier in the year, Friends Chairman Beatrice Dyer and President Michael Galsworthy pledged to provide funds to upgrade the staff room. Now, with new furniture in place, staff are able to relax during breaks in comfortable and bright surroundings. The Friends have provided a new blind, fridge, chairs, dining table and a coffee table as well as a new kitchen worktop. Wheal Prosper is an infection control ward and once on duty staff, must remain on the unit even during breaks. Ward manager Rebecca Shuttleworth said: “It has made a huge difference to the department. Just being able to sit at a table and eat is
Dermatology department’s Ward Manager Julie Knowles and Staff Nurse Bonnie Collier with the Hyfrecator machine
fantastic and it’s so much brighter. The Friends have made such a difference to the ward as a whole. They even provided pictures, televisions and clocks for the patients’ rooms.” In the Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) department, the Friends provided an Endoscope Storage Cabinet at a cost of £13,000 plus two endoscopes costing £6,000 each. Endoscopes are used to investigate the digestive system. Karen Yelland, Endoscopy Staff Nurse, said: “The cabinet has made a huge difference to our day-to-day work. Now the endoscopes can be cleaned and put into the cabinet which has positive air going through it and this keeps them sterile for 31 days. It means if we need to use one in an emergency we can just grab one and go. The cabinet has helped us to achieve gold
Karen Yelland, Endoscopy Staff Nurse with the new endoscope storage cabinet and one of the endoscopes
standard in the service we can provide so we are very grateful to the Friends especially as they also provided the money for chairs and new covers for others in the department.” Maternity was another area to benefit, through the donation of eight breastfeeding chairs and a fridge. One and All 17