Completed Project List

Somerset NHS Gardens

Our trust has 2 district hospitals, 13 community hospital and over 100 buildings and many of these locations include outdoor spaces. NHS budgets are of course focused on saving lives and treating patients, so we were delighted apply some green fingers to these spaces to improve the environment and atmosphere for patients, their loved ones and our NHS colleagues.

Dementia Support Boxes

We funded Dementia Support Boxes at NHS sites throughout the entire county. The boxes include practical items such as hearing aid batteries, glasses wipes, a magnifying glass, as well as activities like crossword books, large print cards and sensory items. These will make a huge difference for patients that need additional support and enable our colleagues to go the extra mile, wherever they encounter a patient with a dementia.

iPads

iPads have a huge range of purposes across the Trust. Many of the devices bought have been used to support patients to communicate with loved ones whilst isolated in hospital.

In addition to helping patients stay connected with family and friends, they are also used to support our younger patients to distract them during procedures.

They assist colleagues to efficiently relay information to patients in an interactive and user-friendly way. They’re also used for activities that can aid patients with recovery in various different departments, such as stroke and neurological rehabilitation.

Medical Equipment at Musgrove Park Hospital

Love Musgrove has a brilliant track record of funding equipment at Musgrove Park Hospital and our 25th year will be no different.

The list includes:

• A Doppler Machine to help diagnose circulatory problems in legs.
• An Oral Performance Instrument trainer device to help with speech and swallow rehabilitation after surgery or radiotherapy.
• 2 ECG Machines to help measure heart rhythms and diagnose issues quicker.
• 4 Nebulizers that help deliver medicines in a quicker and easier way.
• An Optiflow Machine for A&E to help with respiratory problems in Children.
• A Bladder Scanner for Portman Ward to support diagnoses in patients and to make them more comfortable quicker.

Research

We are proud to say our clinical nurse researcher, Ana-Maria Toth, conducted a study at Musgrove Park Hospital to explore if hypnosis can impact a patient’s  experience of surgery.

The study, called Hypnopal, is waiting for the data to be verified, and early results suggest patients who received hypnosis before and after colorectal surgery experienced less pain.

This could mark the beginning of a ground-breaking discovery right here in Somerset! We’re excited to share more as the results unfold, and Ana-Maria continues to make history by shaping the future of healthcare – one trance at a time.

Hydrotherapy Pool Support

A huge renovation took place to open the Hydrotherapy Pool at Dene Barton Community Hospital, and your donations were used to support this fantastic new development, making it a therapeutic experience in a calm environment, for our patients.

The pool supports patients having treatment from breast care, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, recovering from spinal injuries, strokes, and accommodates many paediatric patients too.

Medical Equipment at Musgrove Park Hospital

Love Musgrove has a brilliant track record of funding equipment at Musgrove Park Hospital and our 25th year will be no different.

The list includes:

• A Doppler Machine to help diagnose circulatory problems in legs.
• An Oral Performance Instrument trainer device to help with speech and swallow rehabilitation after surgery or radiotherapy.
• 2 ECG Machines to help measure heart rhythms and diagnose issues quicker.
• 4 Nebulizers that help deliver medicines in a quicker and easier way.
• An Optiflow Machine for A&E to help with respiratory problems in Children.
• A Bladder Scanner for Portman Ward to support diagnoses in patients and to make them more comfortable quicker.

Music Therapy & Engagement

We teamed up with Art for Life to launch a Trust-wide music programme with live music sessions on the wards. We received some wonderful feedback from a member staff at South Petherton Community Hospital about the live music sessions, which are funded by Somerset NHS Charity. It is great to hear the amazing impact they are having on our patients.

“I work on Mary Robertson Ward and just want to say how wonderful the sessions are for the patients. One patient has been very agitated in bed and thoroughly enjoyed coming out for the music. Her facial expression and body language were amazing and it was like she had been given ‘gold’.

The difference it makes to our patients has been amazing during the time period. Hugh has such a way with the patients, enabling them to get involved and tailoring it to a variety of needs.”

Volunteer Polos

We funded uniforms for the Somerset NHS volunteers.  These incredible individuals give up their time to help with a wide range of tasks, including greeting patients and their families, taking care of administrative tasks, being dementia buddies and helping in NHS gardens.

The orange polo shirts will help patients and their families identify them easily. Your support is also such a morale boost for the team, helping show how valued and appreciated they are. The 750 NHS volunteers give an average of three hours of their time a week. That works out to approximately 117,000 hours of volunteering in a whole year!

iCare IC100 Tonometer

With your donations purchased two brand new iCare IC100 Tonometers, used by our eye care teams at Minehead Community Hospital, allowing them the capacity to see patients and complete diagnoses quicker.

Tonometry is a diagnostic test that measures the pressure inside your eye, which is called intraocular pressure. This measurement can help doctors determine whether you may be at risk of glaucoma.

DBT Specialist Training

DBT (Dialectical Behavioural Therapy), a type of talking therapy, is currently delivered to adults of all ages across our Mental Health service. Our Older Adult Community Mental Health Team identified that some of the older adults they were working with didn’t engage with this therapy as well as younger adults, and so with your donations, we trained 15 of our colleagues to deliver specialist Older Adult DBT.

The course is run by The Association for Psychological Therapies and allows our Older Adult Mental Health Team, many of whom work part time, to take the course and continue to see patients.