Airedale Hospital and Community Charity has launched its Intensive Care for Airedale appeal to support the creation of a new Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Airedale General Hospital.
Funding has been agreed to build a new ICU at Airedale General Hospital with its doors due to open in Spring 2022. Airedale Hospital and Community Charity needs your help with this vital project, to raise funds for the extras that are over and above NHS provision. They are the smaller things that really make a difference when patients and staff need it the most.
The recent experiences of Covid-19 have shown the value and importance of having an efficient intensive care unit at Airedale Hospital. The new ICU will be a modern space to treat the hospital’s sickest patients. It will be flexible and able to adapt quickly to the needs of the community.
Intensive care is needed if someone is seriously ill and requires intensive treatment and close monitoring. Most people in ICU have problems with one or more organs and there are many different conditions and situations that can mean someone needs intensive care. For example, a person may have been in a serious road accident, suffered a heart attack, or become ill with an infection such as pneumonia.
The unit requires extra equipment including sensory lights to put over beds to make the unit a more pleasant environment for patients by helping to prevent delirium and improving sleep patterns, and soft furnishings, chairs and TVs for the relative room.
The ICU will have a sensory garden with direct access from the unit for both patients and staff to use. This will allow patients, who are sometimes on the unit for a number of weeks, to go outside into a beautiful garden and benefit from fresh air and daylight during their recovery. It will also give staff an outdoor environment to rest in during their breaks. To support this, the charity hopes to fund specific chairs that aid rehabilitation and that will enable patients to enjoy the garden, as well as benches, plants and murals.
Dr. Julie O’Riordan, Consultant Anaesthetist and Deputy Medical Director at Airedale NHS Foundation Trust, says:
“The new ICU will bring huge benefits to the Airedale community. It will have much better spaces to treat patients and isolate them if they’re infectious, as well as quiet areas where clinicians can compassionately talk with relatives. With the help of Airedale Hospital and Community Charity, we want to provide an accessible garden for patients on ICU, which will really benefit their mental state and rehabilitation.
“It will be fantastic for staff morale, especially after such a difficult 18 months. The prospect of the new unit is already lifting morale within the department. People are really looking forward to working in a modern ICU.”
To donate, please visit www.justgiving.com/campaign/intensivecareforairedale. For more information or to find out how you can help, please contact the charity team on 01535 294870 or anhsft.charity@nhs.net.
Funds remaining after the appeal has closed will continue to be used for the benefit of Airedale NHS Foundation Trust, its patients, employees and community.
