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With a little help from our Friends

Staff at Kings Ward with some of the donations from the Friends
Staff from Kings Ward with some of the donations from the Friends

Published on 22 April 2020

The shop may be closed but the Friends of the William Harvey Hospital are still hard at work supporting staff and patients.

As well as their usual tasks of approving funding and considering applications for medical equipment, they have also been buying items to help staff during the coronavirus outbreak.

Friends’ manager Jill Barringer has been able to use the charity’s credit card to buy items including radios to help improve morale among patients and staff, and a ‘sneeze guard’ for the reception area of the theatres department.

She said: “We had a generous donation from the Freemasons of Commemoration Lodge, Sandgate, which means we can buy more morale-boosting items for wards.

“We’re working with colleagues to help fund snacks for staff working long shifts, and we’ve also bought walkie talkies to make communication easier for those in the COVID-19 wards – it means they don’t have to leave the ward, removing all their protective equipment, just to ask a question of someone in a different area.”

The Friends have also set up a JustGiving page to help bring in donations while the shop is closed because of coronavirus-related restrictions. Visit https://www.justgiving.com/fo-williamharvey to donate.

Any staff who have a request for an item to help colleagues or patients, or visitors when they are allowed to return, can contact Jill at jill.barringer@nhs.net