UCHW charity director thanks people of Coventry for their "amazing support" in raising £80,000 for NHS superheroes - The Coventry Observer

UCHW charity director thanks people of Coventry for their "amazing support" in raising £80,000 for NHS superheroes

Coventry Editorial 18th Oct, 2020 Updated: 20th Oct, 2020   0

COVENTRY’S University Hospital charity has thanked all the people who donated to their NHS Superheroes Appeal – and helped raise nearly £80,000.

The UHCW Charity requested donations at the beginning of the pandemic and the money has since helped to buy 80 iPads for patients on Covid-19 positive wards, who were unable to have visits from friends and family, Superhero Care Boxes for frontline staff, thank you cards for the Critical Care team, 20 trauma risk managers and practitioners as well as equipment to support the rehabilitation of heart patients at home.

Jo O’Sullivan, UHCW Charity Director said: “Our hospital staff have faced the toughest of challenges over the course of this pandemic, risking their own mental and physical health to look after us all.

“Just knowing that you care enough to donate and support them, helps them to keep going and to treat our loved ones suffering from Covid-19, holding the hand of far too many of them as they pass away. As they prepare for the second wave of this pandemic, we would all like to thank you for your amazing support.”




As staff adjusted to the impact of the pandemic, the hospital charity was able to fund urgent grant requests as routine services became negatively affected by the virus. When the cardiac rehabilitation programmes at both Coventry and Rugby hospitals had to be stood down, this potentially left all cardiac patients with no means for structured rehabilitation.

UHCW Charity funded 60 Heart Manuals for the Cardiac Rehab Team, a well-established NHS service providing evidence-based programmes for individuals recovering from coronary artery bypass surgery, percutaneous coronary intervention and heart failure. This allowed rehabilitation to carry on at home, meaning high risk patients could avoid coming into the hospital during the worst of the pandemic.


One cardiac rehabilitation patient said: “Having a resource that I can use at home, and look at on a week by week basis to track my progress, made me feel very supported alongside my rehab phone calls.”

As restrictions lifted UHCW Charity stepped in to fund projects to support staff wellbeing including thank you cards for the Critical Care teams who cared for patients during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic this summer. Managers found that the team did not think of themselves as ‘heroes’, so UHCW Charity funded thank you cards for them all to highlight how much they are appreciated and to help show the magnitude of the job they are doing.

UHCW Charity also funded four trauma risk ( TRiM) managers and 16 TRiM Practitioners across Rugby’s St Cross and University Hospital. TRiM is an evidence-based post-incident management process designed to reduce the long term mental health impact of exposure to potentially traumatic events. TRiM is used to enhance the current wellbeing support for staff dealing with Covid-19.

To find out how you can support UHCW Charity, please call 02476 966913 or visit uhcwcharity.org

For more information and to donate to UHCW Charity, visit www.justgiving.com/campaign/nhsheroes

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