The League of Friends of Brecon Hospital actively support Brecon War Memorial Hospital with many thousands of pounds annually.
The Hospital presents the League with a 'Wish List' which is arrived at by the various wards presenting their prioritised requests for the forthcoming year which cannot get funding elsewhere. The League then works with the hospital to arrive at the final list of items which can be donated. The aim is to improve services to patients by providing items over and above those that can be obtained from central funding and enabling consultants to come to Brecon to treat patients locally as much as possible.
The League raises funds by running an Autumn Fayre, Flag Day and a Concert each year together with receipt of generous donations and bequests which they manage. They also run a hospital shop which is open Monday to Friday, four hours a day. If you are interested in becoming a shop volunteer please ring Mrs Ruth Williams on 01874 665489 in the first instance.
A total of £76,709.19 will be donated to purchase equipment throughout the hospital in 2017.
Crug Ward will receive an oximeter to enable nurses to take accurate oxygen readings daily, its present one is old and dated. Also a Kirton chair which is a specialist chair to enhance a person's posture. Positioning can be a problem with patients with dementia or who have suffered a stroke.
The Dental Department will have an STA wand which is a local anaesthetic delivery system that benefits both anxious children and adults who are needle phobic. It has been shown to allow patients who previously refused dental treatment to be treated successfully. In Powys there is only one at present and that is in Newtown so a long way for people to travel from this area.
The Diabetes Nurse Specialists are to have three portable blood pressure monitor and cuffs, needed in clinic and for home assessments. A portable projector for training purposes will also be provided.
Epynt Ward will receive a smartseat specialist stroke chair to improve the patient's physical and emotional state. Being able to sit in such a chair and partake of communal dining is an essential part of rehabilitation. Epynt will also have five repose inflatable pressure relieving mattresses and cushions. As Brecon is a stroke rehabilitation unit, patients are nursed who need their nutrition via Nasogastric or PEG tubes. To maintain competancy and to ensure that patients are able to be nursed closer to home, a nasogastric tube insertion model for training will be provided.
Dementia Matters Powys workshops will continue to be supported financially by The League of Friends. The pilot scheme last year was a terrific success and has been rolled out into other hospitals thanks to the great work of the Dementia Friendly Brecon team. The hospital itself is also supporting providing a member of staff to assist with the sessions.
Two profiling beds will be provided for Epynt which will benefit Stroke patients especially, together with a chair bed for relatives staying in the palliative suite.
Maternity will have a manual recliner for the post natal room for breast feeding and post natal care together with a flipchart easel for ante-natal and birth plan classes.
A long list for MIU includes a bladder scanner so they don't have to borrow from other departments; eight bariatric chairs; a new ECG machine and two otoscopes to replace dated equipment; plus a camera and printer to photograph wounds and burns to aid monitoring and the handing over process.
Occupational Therapy will receive and jamar hand evaluation kit to use with hand and particularly rheumatoid patients to get more quantative outcomes allowing the department to participate in research. Patients also like to see their strength increasing during their OT.
Surgical Services will be having six comfortable upright chairs for their waiting room.
Endoscopy Services will be provided with a suction unit - the present one is rather old, noisy and distracting for patients! Also two cystoscopes to be used for urology patients to increase the numbers that can be dealt with as the decontamination process is lengthy.
Y Bannau Ward is to receive two profiling beds; an alarm mat; two reclining chairs; five repose inflatable pressure relieving mattresses and cushions; a digital scales to aid incontinency treatment. Also a sara stedy mobility aid which is pivotal in the rehabiliation of some patients as increasing leg strength may continue to eventually walking again. More anxious individuals can continue to have eye contact with staff and manual handing is minimised with this equipment. In addition a wheelchair will be provided for non-weight bearing or partially weight bearing on lower limbs patients to go self propelled and be more independent around the ward.
The final item to be purchased for the hospital this year are two syringe pumps to aid in giving sedation to a patient during a procedure and for transferring poorly patients to other hospitals.
Many hundreds of thousands of pounds have been donated to the Hospital over the past thirty years which helps to enable all of us to be treated for more ailments without having to travel far from our homes.
Please remember The League of Friends of Brecon Hospital if you are thinking of donating to a worthy cause. Visit us at our Autumn Fayre on Friday 13th October at Bishop Bevan Hall, from 10am.
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