Steve Denyer's Visit to QEHB

Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham visit, December 2016

I was met by Cathryn, Senior Fundraising Officer, at QEHB Charity, at Fisher House. What a start to a hospital tour, what a building! Officially opened in June 2013 by HRH Prince Charles, Fisher House is used by families of patients who are under the care of the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine (RCDM) at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham (QEHB). Our military can be stationed anywhere across the UK - even the world - so to have accommodation for their families while they recover from injury or illness just a five minute walk from the hospital is so important. Funded solely by charitable donations, this 18 bed facility provides a home away from home, boasting en suite rooms, open plan lounges, a cinema room, a well equipped kitchen, a playroom and outside space all with full disabled access. As I walk around I’m told there are 14 rooms occupied this week and that there will be families staying in over the Christmas period too.

Christmas Tree greeting guests as they arrive at Fisher House.

We then walk up to the main hospital where we visit the Chemotherapy Day Unit as someone has made a donation and it needs collecting. We pass busy waiting and treatment rooms but the staff are lovely and smiley. Back out and on to our next scheduled stop – the Young Person’s Cancer Unit (YPU). This is where those aged 16-25 from across our region are treated and it sees around 250 new referrals a year.

It’s a place for those too old for the Children’s Hospital but too young for the general oncology wards and its immediately noticeable how different this ward is from the one we just visited and how well it suits the specified age group. Even the coloured corridors look less clinical than the previous ward, and the first room I’m shown is the kitchen – complete with Duke Box! I couldn’t resist a quick play while Cathryn explained how the kitchen provides a social space encouraging patients to get together, helped by a weekly pizza night funded by the Charity. The Charity also funds a music teacher for the wards which creates a distraction and opportunity for patients to learn a new skill, as well as a teacher – a huge help for those studying. They even had some students take their GCSEs in the study room. Young people treated on YPU, already in the midst of their difficult journey to adulthood, suddenly find themselves faced with a possible life-threatening illness. Many must put life on hold, just as it is starting to take off, which is why the input the Charity has into the YPU is so important.

We head away from the 6th floor and as we do, we pass a couple of people in tears on the main corridor and a feeling that has been creeping up on me since I arrived finally hits me straight in the face. As we are going about our business, people are receiving lifesaving, life changing treatments and loved ones are receiving life changing news all across the hospital right at this very minute!

We now head to an area I’m a little unsure about, ‘a small department that makes a huge difference’ is how it is described to me. The Maxillofacial Department works with patients who have experienced congenital, cancer and trauma in the head area. Consultants use a specialist 3D printer funded by the Charity to recreate lost ears, eyes or noses. It’s not every day you get invited to hold someone’s ear or eye but I was blown away by how lifelike they are. The work carried out in this department is quite simply incredible. I’m told the charity has funded the 3D scanner which is busy working away and also a hand scanner which replaces the need for heavy masks to be placed on patients – quite a relief I imagine, especially for young patients that the department works with at the Children’s Hospital.

I’ve only visited three departments and I guess only scratched the surface of what goes on in the hospital site, but you quickly see how diverse it is and the difference the Charity makes to its patients and their relatives.
Of course, the hospital won’t stop over Christmas and again QEHB Charity has stepped up. As well as funding Christmas trees across the hospital it is also providing Christmas hampers for staff and patients to share on Christmas Day and is funding free patient TV and free parking on Christmas Day. The Charity is also providing gifts for children and young people with cancer to enjoy throughout the festive period. If you’d like to join me in supporting the Christmas Campaign you can do so by visiting www.qehbchristmas.org It’s certainly a visit I won’t forget.