Our year in impact

OUR YEAR

IN IMPACT

We are here to support patients, staff and research at UCLH. Here are just a few examples of how charitable funding has made a difference in the last year.

Grafton Way Building officially opens

King Charles III officially opened the University College Hospital Grafton Way Building as HRH The Prince of Wales in March 2022. Charitable funding contributed to the environment at this brand new facility through art, interactive installations and garden sculptures. The building is also home to new robotic equipment as part of the £5m investment we made to expand the robotic surgery programme at UCLH.

Gold standard treatment for patients with diabetes

HypoBoxes are being installed in every clinical treatment room across UCLH to ensure staff have the correct treatment easily available in the case of a hypoglycaemic emergency. A HypoBox is a one–stop care kit that provides a range of glucose products for use in cases of low blood sugar. This gold standard option was funded to support the Trust’s quality aims to improve diabetes care.

Long Service Awards

This year’s annual long service awards saw over 100 members of staff recognised for their long service to UCLH, with around 30 staff marking over 25 years at the Trust. Congratulating the winners UCLH chief executive David Probert said, “It is fantastic to see that so many staff have worked for such long periods. This shows what a great place UCLH is to work at and I am delighted to recognise their significant contributions.”

Spinal surgery in the womb available to all

Spinal surgery in the womb for babies with spina bifida was formally commissioned by the NHS in 2021/22. This complex surgery is performed on babies with spina bifida between 23 and 26 weeks of pregnancy and results in improved outcomes. This transformative service is a collaboration between UCLH, GOSH and University Hospitals Leuven in Belgium. The establishment of the service was initially made possible by funding from UCLH and GOSH charities.

Celebrating Black History Month

The BAME staff network organised a series of events to commemorate Black History Month this year. The “proud to be” theme showcased talent at UCLH and included a series of talks about health inequalities in the black community with a focus on child health, Covid and mental health. Two consultants also shared individual experiences of their careers in healthcare leadership. We fund the staff networks programme which includes BAME, alongside the women’s, mental health and disability networks.

Celebrating volunteers’ week

UCLH’s 200 volunteers were presented with certificates during National Volunteers’ Week in June 2021, a small way of saying thank you. During the pandemic, the service stepped up to provide help in new ways, which included the distribution of donations to staff (including 141,000 meals), support at the vaccination clinic and support for the family liaison team in critical care. UCLH Charity funds the volunteering service at UCLH.

Graeme Robertson/The Guardian

Covid recovery

UCLH’s efforts to tackle waiting lists were featured in The Guardian in September 2021. Patient Patricia Pavey was featured undergoing knee replacement surgery using the state-of-the-art Mako robot, which was funded by UCLH Charity. Robotic surgery typically results in shorter lengths of stay and quicker recovery, thereby allowing UCLH to treat more patients, more efficiently.