COVID-19 RESPONSE

In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, we launched our dedicated COVID-19 Rapid Response Fund in March 2020, to help our staff provide the best possible care to those in need.

Thanks to an outpouring of generosity from the local community, we were able to support our hospitals in three key areas:

  • New Equipment – Including scanners, blood gas machines and patient vital-sign monitors
  • New Technology – Including remote monitoring devices, digital consultation tools and mobile tablets
  • Support for Frontline Staff – Including Health and Wellbeing hubs at our hospitals to provide respite, information and refreshments for our teams; and the recruitment and deployment of a specialist volunteer workforce to support staff and patients on our wards and across our organisation

VITAL RESEARCH TO COMBAT COVID-19 

In partnership with Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and our community of partners and supporters, we have raised funds to support research including the PIONEER study which aims to prevent patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 from becoming seriously ill.

The PIONEER study is examining the use of medications that have already proven efficacious and safe in the treatment of other diseases to provide us with a transformative new approach to treating COVID-19 patients.

Following a competitive pitch by 130 organisations globally, Chief Investigator of PIONEER, Prof Pallav Shah, received a funding boost of nearly £1.37m from medical research charity LifeArc.

Your generous donations helped to fund:

over 30,000 free meals provided to staff
over 30 new types of equipment to improve patient care
4 wellbeing hubs for staff to relax reflect and refuel
200 tablets provided for patients to communicate with loved ones
over 2000 art activity packs given to patients
4310 views of Virtual Connections, our online arts programme
60 Mental Health First Aiders trained
51 hours of live music performances including in-person and live-streams

A huge thank you also to all the individuals, organisations and companies who have donated gifts in-kind, ranging from snacks and hand creams to microwaves and massage chairs – your support has made such a difference to our frontline staff throughout the pandemic.

As COVID-19 cases reduce across the UK, we are no longer actively fundraising for our COVID-19 Rapid Response Fund. However, if you would like to support our recovery programme, please donate here and select ‘Other’ in the drop-down menu, referencing “COVID-19 Recovery”.