Friends at Broomfield Hospital, The Friends at Broomfield Hospital, Broomfield Hospital, Chelmsford (2026)

All profits go back to the hospital, funding vital equipment and patient support—over £1 million donated in 60 years!

15/06/2026

Outpatients: Vascular Doppler: Today we had a demonstration of the Vascular Doppler which we have funded for the Outpatients Dept. Our thanks to Stella George, Senior Sister and Rini Selvaraj, Junior Sister for making time for us today. The mobile device detects patient arterial blood flow... which is particularly useful when checking for leg ulcers for example. When a patient arrives ... having been referred with possible arterial, vascular or neurological issues .... Doctors can immediately eliminate or confirm problems with the arterial blood flow using the Vascular Doppler. Without use of this device the patient would need an Ultrasound scan ... adding delay and anxiety to the time spent awaiting diagnosis. Elimination of arterial issues using the Vascular Doppler enables the team to move forward quickly, safely prescribing compression socks/stockings where appropriate and referring the patient for alternative scans ... such as a Venus scan (vascular) or a CT scan as required. So, very quickly the patient can be moved on to the next stage of investigation. Stella and Rini are very happy to have the new device in place .... primarily to help reduce anxiety levels and diagnosis delays for their patients ... and the Friends are very happy to have donated the £1,599.66 to make this possible.

20/05/2026

Acute Medical Unit (AMU) Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC): Charlotte Rolfe (Receptionist) and Megan Adams (Patient Flow Coordinator) kindly showed us round the AMU SDEC ward staff areas. Charlotte explained that the SDEC ward is operational 24/7 and has additional clinics running between 8am and 8pm. As the name suggests they provide same-day emergency care for patients, usually admitted via A&E whose conditions need more detailed investigation before they can be discharged. As examples, they may need to organise blood tests, various scans or x-rays and ensure the results are received quickly to give Consultants adequate detailed information to make their diagnosis, prescribe medication and, ideally, get the patient discharged ‘same-day’ … so this is a busy unit! We were told that there may be more than 100 staff passing through SDEC on any one day, all of whom need to be able to take a quick break at some point in one of the staff areas. The Friends have donated a total of £700 to provide 3 industrial microwaves to give staff the option to have hot food if they wish. Charlotte, who has experience in catering, chose the flatbed style of microwave meaning there are no separate turntables to keep clean, they are more robust, quick and easy to operate and less prone to rusting … and all of that hopefully means they will benefit the staff for a long time to come.

20/05/2026

Critical Care: SAVE A LIFE trolley: Paul Arnold, Critical Care Matron, took time out of his day to invite us to meet 'Sal' .. the aptly named Safe A Life trolley! The Friends donated £2,565 to enable Critical Care to purchase the trolley which has been in use for a month or so and has already become an invaluable piece of kit! Time is of the essence when a patient needs to be transferred to Critical Care from another ward .... Sal's purpose is to be on hand, holding all the necessary equipment at all times, to accompany Critical Care staff to the patient location. Having the Save A Life trolley 'ready and waiting' saves valuable minutes when needing to reach a patient whose status is critical. An oxygen cylinder, monitoring equipment, breathing equipment, suction tubes and a whole host of other equipment 'on board' allows safe transference of a patient in need of critical care without delay. James McManus and Aimee Birleson, both Critical Care Scientists, explained that the trolley contents and layout were specified by the Critical Care staff .... so the bespoke design is exactly what they need. James summed it up by saying .... "it's such a simple concept, which makes such a difference to how we can respond". Aimee told us "Sal is already the envy of other wards" ... and we are delighted to have provided such a worthwhile addition to the team!

11/05/2026

Book sale & tombola
Our Easter Book Sale & Tombola was held in the main atrium at Broomfield Hospital. Here are a group of our ‘Friends’ ready to start their ticket sales and find some Easter winners on the tombola! The 2 day event was a great success …. many books were sold, many tombola tickets were purchased … and we raised over £820 for Broomfield Hospital.
Also pictured are the LUCKY WINNERS of our ‘day 1’ and ‘day 2’ star prize … the Chocolate Chickens!! As always, our grateful thanks to everyone that donates books to our shops throughout the year … and to our fabulous volunteers for making it such an enjoyable and successful event!

11/05/2026

ICU Family rooms & Bedrooms: the Friends visited Broomfield Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) today to see the transformation of the family room and two bedrooms that have been funded by our £10.000 donation. Freeta Jamile, Advanced Clinical Care Practitioner, took time out of her busy schedule to show us around. Freeta explained how important it is to have non-clinical areas for the patients’ families to ‘be together’ and to stay for one or more nights at such a critical time. The refurbished rooms have all been redecorated and refurnished to make a more comfortable, calming space for relatives to use whilst staying onsite at the hospital. Each bedroom has a bed and a dining table and chairs … allowing families privacy to be in their own ‘quiet space’. The family room is a more social space with a communal fridge, microwave, settee and chairs and a dining table and chairs. Relatives can bring in their own food, store it and cook it using these facilities and hopefully get some rest knowing that they are only moments away from their loved one in ICU. Coffee, tea, milk, sugar and basic toiletries as well as bed linen are all supplied for family use … if other items are needed, our two Friends’ shops (the nearest one to ICU is in the Atrium next to A111) also stock a range of branded toiletries and many other items which are available for purchase during our opening hours (Monday to Friday 9am – 3pm). In the bedrooms the beds are mobile and can be made up as ‘singles’ or ‘doubles’. As a ‘single’, staff are able to relocate a bed to the ICU ward … so, for example, a couple can take turns to stretch out directly next to their loved one in ICU whilst their partner takes their rest in the bedroom. The hospital domestic staff visit all the rooms daily … cleaning, changing bed linen and replenishing kitchen supplies.
In addition to focusing on the clinical care for their patients, Freeta and her colleagues are passionate about providing care for patients’ families … facilities in the rooms are under constant review and Freeta always asks families for their feedback. During our visit today, the Friends were privileged to meet a visiting family who expressed their gratitude at being able to use the family room and bedroom … allowing them some time to themselves knowing that they are still closeby to ICU … they live two hours away and gave Freeta some valuable feedback on the facilities. Our thanks to Freeta and her team … and to the family we met today for taking time to chat to us. Every donation helps us to fund projects like this one.

29/04/2026

Stroke Unit: this project has taken a long time to complete! We are delighted to have finally been able to source two Tilt Chairs for the Stroke Unit. The donor family – Shanie and Dave Jamieson – visited the Stroke Unit along with The Friends today to see the chairs ‘in action’. Shanie’s Dad kindly granted the hospital £5,051 in his will (in 2024) which has enabled the purchase of the two chairs. Our thanks to Shanie and Dave, Emma Lambert-Mead and the rest of the Lambert family for their support on their Dad’s behalf.
Senior Sister, Annie Pateman, explained some of the benefits the tilt chairs bring to the unit. One member of staff can easily transport a patient around the ward … or even outside the unit if needed … knowing that the patient is comfortable and secure within the chair. The mechanism also allows a ‘safe tilt’ to be achieved for improved comfort. Staff can use the chair to support the patient when mobilizing them from bed to chair … with the patient benefiting from more time ‘out of bed’ in a more comfortable seated position. The chair is a high-backed style with footrest for maximum patient stability … slimline in shape with durable, easy- clean padding for easy movement and maintenance. We are told they are already being fully utilised on the unit!

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The Friends At Broomfield Hospital, Broomfield Hospital
Chelmsford
CM17ET

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https://www.fabh.org/

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