Lowestoft Lions have handed over a cheque for £850 to help fund items for our Theatres team and our Surgical Assessment Unit (SAU).
The Lions – including president of the Lowestoft branch Michael Cook – visited the James Paget on Tuesday morning to officially present the cheque to some of our Theatres team.
The generous donation will be used to purchase a radio for our SAU and two iPads for Theatres – with the items set to benefit patients using these hospital services.
The iPads will be used by young patients who have to undergo surgical procedures. Until now a 30-plus-year-old ‘Where’s Wally’ book has been used to entertain and distract young patients – the iPads will mean entertainment can be tailored to individual needs whatever their age.
The SAU is a purpose built unit next to Ward 5, which consists of a three trolleyed bay that is used for patients coming into the hospital from our Emergency Department, or via their GP, to enable rapid assessment and treatment for those who may require surgery. A patient is assessed and will either be admitted, treated and then discharged, or discharged with a request to return at a later date for diagnostic tests or a planned surgical procedure. However several patients had told our team that the small room was very quiet and that conversations could be overheard, so the SAU team contacted our charity with a request for a radio for the unit.
Thanks to funding from the Lions the items will now be purchased and will soon be in use.
Maxine Taylor, James Paget Hospital Charity Manager, said; “We are very grateful to Lowestoft Lions for their continuing support for our hospital and our patients. This generous donation will fund the iPads to allow young people to have a choice of entertainment when they are having surgery and allow older patients to have a little more privacy and some music when they are staying in our Surgical Assessment Unit. We appreciate the work that the Lions do and would like to thank them and everyone who supports their fundraising – these items will really make a difference to our patients.”