Enhancing care for the elderly
We raise funds to help our teams give the very best care to our elderly patients
Everyone deserves the best care as they age. Our Care of the Elderly departments provide general medical care to all elderly patients that are admitted to our hospitals. Our area is home to more elderly people than any other London borough.
Our elderly care specialist outpatient clinics include:
- Falls
- Confusion
- Dementia and delirium
- Memory
- Orthogeriatric
- General medical clinics for more complex issues (patients with more than one illness and who therefore, do not fit neatly into any particular category).
What our amazing supporters have already helped fund:
RITA devices
RITA (Reminiscence Interactive Therapy Activities) is specialist preloaded touch screen system with stimulating entertainment, such as films, music, games, armchair exercises and much more which have been helping to keep our patients active and entertained.
Patient Activity Trollies
We purchased patient activity trollies for our elderly care wards. These trollies contain items such as hand cream, reading glasses, activity books, distraction toys and other essential toiletries.
Movement alarms
Falls are a major cause of disability and mortality for older people in the UK. These alarms help reduce the number of in-patient falls and near misses. The alarms alert staff when a patient is trying to get out of bed or chair, so action can be taken to prevent a fall. The monitor can be attached to a pad placed on the bed or chair. When movement (beyond the patient moving around) is detected, the alarm will sound.
Other ways we support our elderly care services:
- Twiddlemuffs - these are cosy knitted or crocheted muffs with items such as ribbons, buttons, beads and various other fabrics attached inside and out. They are designed to provide a wonderful source of visual, tactile and sensory stimulation for dementia, Alzheimer's and arthritis patients in our hospitals
- Slip socks that help reduce patient falls
Maisie's Story
Linda Sullivan,73 was admitted to Queen’s Hospital with a spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma in December 2020. Linda was nicknamed ‘Maisie’ in 1967 by her husband, Howard Sullivan because she reminded him of Maisie in ‘The Perishers’ cartoon’, and since then in stuck. Maisie sadly passed away in ITU from a COVID induced pneumonia in January 2021. After Maisie’s passing, Howard and the rest of her family wanted to focus on doing something positive in her memory.
She was a fun, kind and loving woman who's vibrancy for life
brought happiness to those around her.
- Daughter-in-law Claire Sullivan, Maisie's daughter-in-law
The family decided to buy something for the wards to provide comfort to patients in hospital. The room Maisie was in didn’t have any windows and due to COVID, doors were kept shut. As a result of this, she often rang her family at 2 or 3 AM in the morning because she was not aware of the date or time of day. A clock visible to Maisie would have been of great value to her.
The family created a JustGiving page which generated over £5,000. A member of the family’s work company, DH Industries Limited, generously matched the amount raised on the fundraising page. This meant that the family raised over £10,000 in one month!
After speaking with ITU and the elderly care wards, they also mentioned the need for clocks and the family loved this idea as they knew Maisie would have appreciated this. There were two types of clocks, one featuring the date and the other included a day and night display. The clocks were branded as ‘Maisie’s Clocks’ with a logo shown on the front of each one. 120 clocks were distributed to the ITU and elderly care wards, who all cared for Maisie while she was in hospital. Staff and patients were grateful for the new clocks and sympathised when they heard about Maisie’s story.
The installation of Maisie’s Clocks is a wonderful way to remind us of how precious time is, especially to our elderly patients. This will make a positive difference for all our patients.
- Arlene Villarante, staff nurse on Harvest B ward
The family hope the clocks will help the staff and patients in the wards for many years to come. Linda will be greatly missed by her family, friends and those who knew her. She was a fun, kind and loving woman whose vibrancy for life brought happiness to those around her. If you would like to donate funds to purchase more Maisie’s clocks to go around other wards, get in touch with us and we’ll be happy to help you with the process.
Help us to enhance elderly care services
With your help we can improve elderly services for patients both now and in the future.
