Telford hospital given £75k worth of equipment by charity

The Friends of Princess Royal Hospital (PRH) have funded physiotherapy equipment, a radiology workstation and dialysis equipment from Sweden worth £50,000.

Made up of nine people on the committee and 10 working in the Friends' cafe managed by Tanya Griffin, the charity is given recommendations of equipment needed in different hospital departments, before negotiating with the hospital's capital planning to decide on where the funding will come from.

In the last 12 months, the group has funded physiotherapy equipment worth £1,700, dialysis equipment worth £50,000, a sleep study system worth £15,000 and a radiology workstation worth £16,000 as well as number of smaller items.

With the vast majority of money coming from the group's cafe located at the front of hospital, funds are also raised by a charity desk and kiosk, as well as donations made by members of the public.

Friends of PRH chairman, Kate Owen, said the work the group does benefits the whole community.

"It fulfils a need on both sides, people wanting to help others and the need the hospital has for certain equipment," she said.

"We are given a list of vital equipment that the hospital needs or certain departments want and we choose what we can efficiently fund.

"We spent £50,000 on water treatment equipment for dialysis. They also said they needed a sleep study system so we gave them £14,000 for that.

"We've also funded a radiology workstation that's currently up and running and smaller things like optical headlights and an XC Cube, which is used for moving dead bodies."

Jo Bradley, charity secretary, added: "We feel what we're doing is helping the patients, visitors and wider communities and they really do appreciate it.

"Over the years we've replaced all of the beds in the dialysis department and spent millions on supporting the hospital.

"Loads of people tell us we do a great job, we don't want a big thank you but it does mean a lot to know we're helping."

The Friends group added that volunteers are being sought to ensure the charity can continue to raise money in the future.

Kate added: "We desperately do need more volunteers.

"A two and a half hour shift is all we'd want somebody to come and do, and we're also looking for dedicated people to sit on our committee as finding the people to give up their time is becoming increasingly difficult."