The Christchurch Hospital League of Friends have put their hearts and souls into funding the remarkable refurbishment of the Physiotherapy department at Christchurch Hospital.
This includes providing £312,677 for vital equipment that goes above and beyond NHS funds and brings the hospital forward into the leading physiotherapy service across Dorset that it is today.
The Christchurch Hospital League of Friends have been supporting the hospital since the 1970’s and have not only seen the transformation over the years, they have been a pivotal part of striving to give patients the best by investing in the hospital that has such heart and history.
In more recent years, University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust has combined its two physiotherapy departments at Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals and is now proud to be one of the most desired places to work for physiotherapy in the area. The Covid-19 pandemic saw our physiotherapists set themselves up virtually like never before which meant adjustments to the space and buildings alone.
Making the service fit for the modern day, Christchurch Hospital League of Friends has helped fund equipment like a DEXA scanner which is a high-precision type of X-ray that measures your bone mineral density and bone loss. Not stopping there, fundraising help from the League of Friends funded a leg press, a weights rack and rowing machine to name just a few items. Funds have also been invested in staff training and play equipment for children in the waiting area.
The team of physiotherapists are now able to see 1,500 patients a month and is proud to be the first hospital in England to use such equipment like the Alter G treadmill that adjusts itself for any weight to help every patient use the machine in the most effective way for them.
League of Friends Trustee, Josephine Spencer MBE said: “To have a hospital like no other in our borough is not to be taken for granted. We recognise the hard work of everybody at this hospital and are proud about all that we have achieved and contributed. It really is a special hospital with heart and history. It has the personal touch and now has facilities that sets it apart from others. Every patient really matters here so why shouldn’t the staff have what is needed to take their services to the next level.”
Chief Strategy Transformation Director, Richard Renaut said: “The late Joan Pounds who was the Chair of the League of Friends was an inspiration and instrumental part of Christchurch Hospital. A plaque in memory of Joan now sits in the waiting area to recognise her phenomenal contribution over decades of volunteering and fundraising through the League of Friends. She was somebody who embraced change and improvements wherever possible. What a difference she and everybody involved has made.”
Consultant Physiotherapist, Matthew Low said: “We wouldn’t be here today, able to do what we do without the equipment and facilities we now have from the funds from the Christchurch Hospital League of Friends. We’re really utilising our facilities.”