LambethNews

Hospital opens appeal for patients spending Christmas in trauma ward

A hospital has opened a Christmas fundraising appeal for major trauma survivors who will spend the festive season in hospital.

But there is a way to bring some comfort to those patients  – King’s College Hospital Charity has opened its 2024 Christmas appeal for members of the public to donate and offer patients a better chance of recovery with added comfort. 

Dr Malcom Tunnicliff, emergency medicine consultant and clinical director for Trauma at King’s College Hospital, describes the experience: “Waking up on a trauma ward can be terrifying. You might not know where you are, or how you got there. 

“It’s noisy, with medical equipment beeping and humming around you, and other patients may be calling out.”

Previous donations from supporters mean the charity has already made a huge difference. 

A newly-refurbished Day Room has provided trauma patients with a peaceful space to relax and recover with their loved ones.

The Day Room at Kings College Hospital (Picture: KCH)

Dr Tunnicliff said: “For patients, families and loved ones, we try to do everything we can to help take some of that fear, anxiety, and stress away. 

“They need an environment that is calm, relaxed and away from the noise and commotion of the 26-bed ward. Because giving trauma patients a calm, normalising environment is to give them a much better chance of a good recovery.”

The Charity has helped patients like James. James spent more than a month on the Katherine Monk Trauma Ward at King’s College Hospital. He was involved in a severe motorbike accident, and broke both his legs.

He said: “Spending so many days and nights on a small and busy ward was extremely difficult.

“I was in a lot of pain, my family was far away, and I’d lost use of both legs”.

But James said the Day Room offered him a safe and reassuring space amidst the uncertainty.

He said: “The Day Room was a great space for my family. King’s staff were always there to comfort me. When I wasn’t sure if I’d survive.”

King’s College Hospital, in Denmark Hill, treats thousands of patients each year from across London and the South East of England. 

Thousands of patients are airlifted to Kings College Hospital for emergency treatment every year (Picture: KCH)

Many are airlifted with serious traumatic injuries from traffic accidents, fires, falls, or will have suffered life-changing injuries.

This festive season will be no different, and the trauma ward will be just as busy. 

Donations to the Christmas Appeal will help fund more vital projects like the Day Room, and provide more trauma patients with a better chance of recovery. 

Gail Scott-Spicer, chief executive officer of King’s College Hospital Charity, said: “Thanks to donations, the Day Room offers staff, patients and visitors somewhere to celebrate together. 

“It brings a sense of home to the hospital and gives people the respite they desperately need. 

“But we need donations to our Appeal to do even more of this work.

“Supporting our Appeal can help us bring comfort to more patients in pain, distress, or who feel particularly vulnerable and alone, at Christmas or throughout the year. I would like to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone donating.”

Donations to the appeal can be made via the King’s College Hospital Charity website and will support the charity wherever the need is greatest. 

To find out more, visit: https://supportkings.org.uk/your-christmas-gift-helps-recovery-kings

Pictured top: The newly-refurbished Day Room at King’s College Hospital, paid for by donations from the public (Picture: KCH)

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