£36,000 DONATION TO CARDIAC CARE AT HOSPITAL

The North Staffs Heart Committee has recently presented six state-of-the-art lifesaving defibrillators worth £36,000 to the University Hospital of North Staffordshire's accident and emergency unit.

The latest donation means the committee has now handed over 70 defibrillators to organisations in North Staffordshire including the British Red Cross, St John Ambulance and First Responder Groups.

This year the NSHC is also providing additional "state-of-the-art" equipment for the cardiac diagnostic department at the University Hospital, is updating a series of booklets giving advice to cardiac patients and has funded a £250,000 research project on heart failure.

Committee Chairman Tony Berry said: "Our main objective is to save lives and since the A&E department is often the first place that a heart attack patient will be taken it is essential that the equipment is the best available and these six new defibrillators are of the latest hi-tech specification.

"We also provide the latest diagnostic and treatment equipment for the cardiac departments but there is little point in this if the patient does not survive the first admission to hospital hence the need for these special defibrillators.

"All our work is funded either by grateful patients, public donations or bequests and in order for us to carry on fighting heart disease in North Staffordshire we require continued support."

Dr Pat Chipping, Medical Director of the University Hospital of North Staffordshire NHS Trust, said: "The work of the North Staffs heart Committee cannot be underestimated. We are grateful for the donation of the six defibrillators and for the charity’s significant ongoing support."
 

Professor joins NSHC as advisor and receives £250,000 Research Grant
 

Earlier in 2006, Professor John E Sanderson who was recently appointed to the University Hospital of North Staffordshire after working in Hong Kong, joined the NSHC as one of its four medical consultant advisors and he was welcomed on board with a £250,000 research grant.

The funding will help the eminent professor of cardiology to continue his cardiovascular research into heart failure, a disorder which medical experts still do not fully understand.

Despite major advances in heart surgery, the growing number of deaths from chronic heart failure, which is different from cardiac arrest or heart attack, is a cause for concern. It is known that congestive heart failure is a degenerative disorder in which the heart loses its ability to pump blood efficiently. However it is still not known why many patients develop this illness.
 

Tony Berry (far right) welcomes Professor John E Sanderson. Looking on (l-r) are Dr John Creamer, director of cardiac services and a medical consultant member of NSHC, Peter Carder (treasurer), Judy Ledward (secretary), Pat Smitten (assistant secretary), and Ron Prime (liaison officer).
 

Professor Sanderson has specialised in heart failure for many years and, as an acknowledged expert in this field, has published a number of papers on the subject.

Part of the Committee's £250,000 grant will be used to buy a state-of-the-art 4d echocardiography machine to provide a more sophisticated approach to studying the causes of heart failure.

Professor Sanderson said: "Once we have a better understanding of the symptoms of heart failure we will have a good chance of being able to prevent this condition or treat it in a more logical and effective way.

 

2004 Milestones

2004 was a special year for the NSHC because, not only did we reach our 25th anniversary, but we also reached the £3million landmark. At the time this was a remarkable achievement for us but what seems even more remarkable is the fact that in just two more years, with the help of our supporters, we have raised a further £1million!

The Committee

Ward 14 raises money for NSHC.

Ward 14 has been the beneficiary of NSHC in the past, being provided with cardiac monitors similar to the ones provided previously to Ward &6, but on this occasion, the money was flowing in the opposite direction.

To show their gratitude, they raised £500 which they presented to Tony Berry for the NSHC.

Cardiac Monitors

NSHC made a donation of state-of-the-art cardiac monitors worth £250,000 to Ward 76 at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire's coronary care unit. The monitors are placed at each individual bed space  and ten telemetry systems allow patients to walk around freely which assists a speedier recovery whilst keeping them under constant surveillance from the centralised nurse station.

  
Staff Nurse Helen Nutting demonstrates one of the new cardiac monitors on staff nurse Martin Rogerson watched by University Hospital chief executive Dave Crowley and Tony Berry of NSHC.
    

L to R Robin McMahon, St John Ambulance County Commissioner (Operations); Tony Berry, Chairman, NSHC; Les Crook, Cycle Response Coordinator
    

“On your bike to save a life”

The St. John Ambulance in Staffordshire has just taken delivery of three brand new emergency defibrillators provided by the North Staffs Heart Committee. This brings to over 70 the number of life-saving defibrillators the committee has provided to the voluntary organisations like St John Ambulance, Red Cross, First Responder groups and the NHS.

The three new defibrillators, costing a total of £9,300, are destined for countywide activities, most particularly the newly formed St. John Ambulance cycle response unit.

So vital is the introduction of the new cycle response unit that it is already scheduled to be used to support the Staffordshire County Show and Half Marathons in the Potteries and in Stafford.

St. John Ambulance has developed a volunteering opportunity for Cycle First Aiders and Cycle Responders in order to support our local activities of providing care and First Aid to the public. Cycling is fun, healthy and now can also save lives!
 
St. John Ambulance Cycle Response Units are made up of volunteers and are trained to attend emergency calls whilst out on operation.

The Cycle Response Unit has become a vital part of the team, playing a key role in providing a fast response, particularly in crowded areas. St. John Ambulance has developed its own specialised cycle clothing and equipment.

County Commissioner (Operations) Mr. Robin McMahon said: “This big-hearted gesture is a wonderful gift. The Support of the North Staffs Heart Committee continues to boost our lifesaving activities, for which we are most grateful”.
 

Cardiac Monitors
The North Staffs Heart Committee with far right, Dave Crowley and second right John Creamer, Clinical Director Cardiac Services after the Committee's donation of £250,000 worth of state of the art cardiac monitors

Relatives' overnight accommodation
When someone undergoes heart surgery it is a stressful time for not only the patient but also the relatives. Making their lives easier is important too. With that in mind, the overnight accommodation for relatives visiting the new medical block has been comfortably furnished by us and we hope to do the same for the cardiothoracic department as part of the reorganisation taking place at the Royal Infirmary.

Laboratory Equipment
On 1st January 1997, when the new extension to the Cardiac Department came on stream, we provided the special facilities and equipment for the second of two procedure laboratories at a cost of £130,000. This has helped minimise the waiting lists for diagnostic procedures and it is hoped that routine pacemaker patients will be dealt with as day patients thereby avoiding the need for an overnight stay in hospital.

 

Ward 14 -
Furnishings for patients and staff
We have purchased special recliner chairs for Cardiothoracic patients on Ward 14 and restroom furnishings for the overnight staff in addition to a training video recorder.

Cardiac Monitoring Systems
The special cardiac monitoring systems which we provided approximately 6 years ago at the old cardiac unit have now been increased from 6 six to 16 beds in the new acute cardiac wards at a cost of £72,000.
Our most expensive contribution to improve cardiac patient care was the purchase of two echocardiograph machines at a gross value of £330,000. One of the machines was bought just days after its international launch in Germany in July 1994 and was the first of its type in this country.

 

Syringe Drivers
Through the Heart Committee, seven of the eight remaining founder members of Blackfriars Rotary donated 3 syringe drivers to the Emergency Department and a further one to Ward 76. The £5,000 worth of equipment was given in memory of John Hopley, another founder member and past President of Blackfriars. It was presented by Tony Berry (left) Blackfriars Rotary founder President and Chairman of the North Staffs Heart Committee, and the current President of Blackfriars Peter Lister, to A & E Consultant Ivan Phair and Staff Nurse Beverley Jones, supported by founder members (I-r) John Shenton, Geoff Lawrence, Jack Dodd, John Stops, Peter Cutting and Eric Ball.
 

Defibrillators
Tony Berry presented four defibrillators worth over £13,000 to Central Outpatients, Shelton Chest clinic, Neurology Outpatients and Haywood Outpatients. These are the same as those given for the First Responder scheme and will mean that staff in those areas can give immediate treatment if a patient suffers cardiac arrest.

Training Manikin
The Heart Committee takes a broad view of patient care and has recently donated this state-of-the-art £7,500 Advanced Life Support training manikin to the College of Nursing and Midwifery. The computer-controlled manikin is programmable and so lifelike it features variable strength carotid pulse, lung obstructions, moaning and groaning sounds, breathing sounds, stomach inflation, defibrillation, intravenous cannula placement and IV infusion.

Cardiac Surgery equipment
The Heart Committee has pledged to provide equipment worth more than £200,000 for the extended cardiac surgery facilities at the Royal Infirmary. This boost, which is in addition to the £735,000 granted by the NHS Modernisation Fund, will help us increase the number of open heart operations from the present 600 to over 850 a year. North Staffs Heart Committee Chairman Tony Berry (right) presented the first items of equipment to Dr Nick Clowes in the Cardiothoracic Theatre. They are two anaesthetic machines with built-in ventilators, which cost £36,000 and are advanced enough to take us into the 21st century

Foetal Heart Monitor
Midwifery Sister Joan Hussey (pictured), along with friends and family, donated money to the North Staffs Heart Committee in memory of her husband, John, who had been an active fundraiser for the hospital. One of the items bought from the donation was this foetal heart monitor, which allows women in labour the reassurance of hearing an audible signal on each beat of their baby's heart.