St George’s Hospital Charity has kicked off its Children’s Appeal with the help of Battersea Ironsides Rugby Club to provide unique and important equipment and facilities for St George’s Hospital, Queen Mary’s Hospital and community services in south west London which play a key part in the lives of young people.

Members of the junior team are backing the Appeal and have already raised over £1,000. The Children’s Appeal is a fundraising appeal focussing on what is ‘over and above’ normal provision – kit that can help the talented teams at the hospitals and in the community, help even more young people who benefit from a wide array of specialist staff.

St George’s Hospital currently treats around 34,000 children a year. Vice-chairman of the junior team, Bob Lettman, said: “It’s a pleasure to kick off St George’s Hospital Charity’s Children’s Appeal. Many of our players have experienced first-hand the brilliant services St George’s offers, so we are thrilled to be making a difference to such a worthwhile cause and look forward to continuing our support of the Appeal over the coming months.”

The Appeal aims to fund the following: Ambulatory video telemetry for the Paediatric Neurology Service £25,000. 

Our paediatric neurologists would like to achieve an earlier diagnosis of potential epilepsy. Currently patients are monitored in a ward bed and have to be monitored by a nurse but this equipment can operate at home and provide readings for assessment, thus avoiding hospital stays.

It is very popular with patients as a result. It will allow more patients to be monitored away from hospital, which will have a positive impact on consultant waiting lists.

This equipment will improve patient experience and fits in well with the wider national strategy of providing care closer to home and in the community.

A Paediatric transcutaneous monitor £8,495. Our paediatric respiratory team will be able to offer sleep studies tests much sooner and more reliably with a new monitor as these tests are vital for patients with respiratory problems.

With transcutaneous monitoring, clinicians can easily keep track of the oxygenation and ventilation status in sensitive patients and react immediately.

An aEEG monitor for Paediatric Intensive Care £24,995. Neuro-monitoring in the form of continuous amplitude integrated EEG (aEEG) has been shown to improve outcomes in neonates1 and is now recommended by the ESICM (European Society of Intensive Care Medicine) for adults, American Clinical Neurophysiology Society and also accepted as standard of care by UK Paediatric Intensive Care Society.

Continuous Amplitude Integrated EEG (aEEG) Monitoring is designed to assist clinicians when children are admitted to Paediatric Intensive Care with severe neurological insult and who are at risk of seizures.

The aim is to monitor the cerebral function continuously in real time of children with severe neurological insult (traumatic brain injury, hypoxic brain injury, refractory status epilepticus and complex seizure disorders needing PICU admission for intravenous anticonvulsant medications). This will enable clinicians to identify seizure activity in these children early and treat them appropriately.

Fetoscopy equipment £10,000. So that our surgeons can carry out procedures on foetuses inside the womb. Most commonly used to perform emergency laser surgery for twin-twin transfusion syndrome where there is an uneven flow of blood and nutrients putting a twin’s life at risk.

A sensory trolley for the Play Specialist Team £3,000. Children who come to hospital for treatment are often worried and may not be able to communicate because of their age or condition.

The wonderful Play Specialists can bring calm and distraction to those children who need help to lower anxiety levels to sleep, or to use the sensory equipment to begin a dialogue about their feelings.

It is a popular item already, and a second trolley will help even more children have access to the skilled Play Team. Play materials for the Play Specialist Team cost everything from 50p to £50.

The Play Room is a lively place where young patients, parents and siblings can enjoy some time away from the ward. The fun of drawing and the pleasure it brings to all ages means we get through a lot of paper and drawing equipment.

Your gift can support the children’s desire to express themselves and have some fun. From paper to crayons and pencils, PlayStation, Xbox and other games software and hardware, we cater for all age groups.

Noel Cramer, director of fundraising at St George's Hospital Charity, said: “Raising funds for our Children’s Appeal means we can help our amazing team and even more patients, providing equipment that is ‘over and above’ what is normally possible."

“We would encourage everyone to help the Appeal in whatever way possible. A small donation, a school or office dress-down day, a collection amongst friends or a sponsored run will help secure these much-needed items.”

To support the Children’s Appeal: Text SGHC03 followed by £3 to 70070

Based on information supplied by .