..
.Making
life better for Yorkshire Heart Patients
NEWS - MARCH/APRIL 2012
CLICK HERE FOR THE NEWS ARCHIVES BACK TO 2007
CLICK HERE FOR DONATIONS LIST FOR THE CURRENT PERIODclick on one of the blue headings below to go to that article
Treasurer's Trove - Chairman's Comments - Call My Bluff - George Harrison
Morrish Solicitors - Smile - £165,000 new equipment
Christmas Draw, New Syetem - New Angio Suite - Call my Bluff
Help shape Tomorrow's Doctors with Leeds University
St Lukes - Peter Stanton - The Harwood Singers
Annual Day Trip - Raising Money - Letters - Any Heart Questions?
Be a Trustee - Please send us your used stamps - Virgin - Books
Who Runs Take Heart? - Dates for your diary
Cardiac Nurses - Collection Boxes - Change of Address - Coffee Mornings
Promotional Stall in Jubilee Wing - Leaflet - "We are Take Heart"
Dear Friends
A huge thank you to all our members and supporters for making such a difference to those who have needed our services in the Yorkshire Heart Centre.
Over the past year, we have made tremendous strides in ensuring that we continue to deliver the very best of comfort for patients and support for the wonderful staff. Our continuing mission is not only the provision of physical comfort in their surroundings, but to minimise the stress and anxiety of patients and their families at what is an understandably worrying time.
Like so many charities, the current economic situation is affecting the amount of money coming in and I would respectfully ask that you remember and support us whenever you are able. Every penny counts and remembering that everyone who runs Take Heart does so completely voluntarily, all donations are used to deliver our remit.
Every year, the Trustees meet for a whole day seminar to discuss the work of the charity and one of the decisions made this year concerns one of main events, the Christmas Draw. You will see a note inside this newsletter detailing the changes we are making this year to save a great deal of money.
On Saturday June 2nd, we are to hold a Jubilee Coffee Morning in our Seminar Room in Jubilee Wing, to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. Full details in our next newsletter. You will at that time, be able to have a look at our newly refurbished Roof Garden which will fully reopen at the end of March.
With this, the first newsletter of the year, may I take this opportunity of wishing you all a very Happy and Healthy New Year.
It is that time of the year again and all the books are now with the Accountants once more. It`s always a relief when I finally take them up for audit and even more of a relief when they come back completed.
The donations continue to come in nicely but strangely we seem to be receiving more without names of the donors or what it is for. It is important that we obtain this information so we can acknowledge it, also make sure it goes under the correct heading on the donations list and finally so we can claim gift aid if given permission to do so. If no reason is given for the donations then I can only assume that it is a straight forward donation and isn`t given for any other reason.
We are receiving a number of donations via the internet and at first when we started receiving them we had to write to the person who had donated the money to find out what it had been given for. Things have improved greatly over the past year and whilst I am not saying that I always get it right, I do so about 90% of the time. I can only apologise for the other 10% as I might have put them into the wrong column.
I think that those of you who attend the AGM will be pleasantly surprised with the accounts but that’s all I will say at this time. See you then.
A J McLean
Treasurer
Take Heart are pleased to have funded more than
£165,000 worth of new equipment
for the Yorkshire Heart Centre
A group of some of the Trustees met Dr Dominic Schlosshan and Dr Mohan Sivanathan to formally present the state-of-the-art new machines to the Heart Centre.
The two consultant cardiologists demonstrated some of the features of the equipment and both said that their use would make a huge difference to the work of the Centre.
Cardiac Ultrasound machinesTake Heart has purchased 2 new portable echo machines, at a cost of over £100,000, which have state of the art cardiac ultrasound technology including 3D imaging.
These machines are used anytime, day or night, for patients who cannot have their heart scan done in the main cardiac ultrasound department. This could be because the patient is too sick to leave the ward for example, post heart surgery or during a heart attack, pacemaker insertion or radio-frequency ablation.
The new technology means that we can get detailed 3D information about heart function, valve disease and other pathologies which we cannot get with basic portable machines. This ensures our patients have access to the best possible care as soon as they need it.
One machine is for use in the Yorkshire Heart Centre at LGI which has cardiac patients on ICU, CCU and cardiac wards. This machine is also used in A+E and the catheter labs for emergency scans and during new interventions such as TAVI, transcatheter aortic valve implantation (replacement of the aortic valve without having to open the patients chest during surgery).
The second machine is for the cardiac patients at St James’s Hospital. Care of the elderly wards are situated at St James’s and many of our Cardiac patients are admitted to these wards. The new portable ultrasound machine now means that those patients also get a high quality, timely diagnosis in the comfort of their bed without having to come to the department if they are too unwell or immobile to do so.
OCT equipment
The other piece of equipment purchased by Take Heart uses Optical Coherence Tomography which is a novel imaging tool using laser technology which can be used to obtain images of the coronary arteries. The images are obtained by placing a catheter which emits electromagnetic light waves into the coronary artery during angiography or angioplasty. A contrast flushes the coronary artery to clear the blood column which allows a clear path for the light beams to emit, reflect and produce an image on screen. During this time information about the vascular changes in the artery and the position of any stents can be clearly seen.
Using the data provided from the images we can position coronary stents in the absolute ideal position specific to individual patient anatomy.
Use this equipment will be vital in the treatment of patients who have disease of the main coronary artery, the left main stem. In addition OCT can be performed 9-12 months after angioplasty to re image the stent to identify any clots and help prevent future events.
The Yorkshire Heart Centre is the first in Yorkshire to have such equipment, at a cost of £55,000, which is one of only a few in the whole of the country. Thanks to Take Heart our patients are getting access to the most state of the art equipment available so that we can deliver the very best of treatment for them.
Gina McGawley
Take Heart Deputy Chairman
a group of trustees at the presentation
click to enlarge
Comfortable new suite helps heart patients
Alison Romaniw with some of her staff in the new angio suiteDay patients visiting cardiology at the LGI for angiograms and other relatively straightforward procedures now have a more comfortable environment to relax in during their visit.
A new Angio Suite has been opened close to ward 11 to cater for patients who attend the catheter labs but can be seen without the need to stay overnight.
This applies to about a fifth of the patients visiting the interventional unit, including those needing Pacemaker box changes, reveal implants or explants and radial angiograms.
What was previously a two-bedded room has been transformed into a dedicated waiting area for these patients, with five comfortable recliner chairs and an in-room TV to help pass the time. The room also has its own small private consulting room attached, to allow tests or discussions to be undertaken confidentially.
Take Heart, the charity which supports the Yorkshire Heart Centre at LGI generously paid for the improvements, together with some money from the Ward 11 amenities fund.
As well as making the wait more comfortable for the day patients, having a dedicated area means that they no longer need to use the ward beds in the department. Patients coming in to undergoing more invasive procedures therefore have less time to wait for a bed to become available.
Alison Romaniw, Senior Sister on Ward 11, said: “We’re really pleased with the new room and it is already making a difference to improving patient flows in the department and therefore make a better experience for everyone who comes here.
“We are a busy unit and having a dedicated area which can accommodate up to ten patients a day is better for those patients and really does help in freeing up our beds.
“It shows that a relatively simple change can make a real difference to the patient experience, and we’re so grateful to Take Heart for their help in making this a reality.”
A KIND OF
CALL MY BLUFF
at Sheffield City CollegeThe unbeaten champions of Sheffield College
take on the might of Take Heart
Sparks Restaurant
Sheffield City College - Granville Road – Sheffield - S2 2RL
25th April 2012 at 6pm
Tickets £10 including a meal
Bar available
All proceeds going to Take HeartFull details and a few remaining tickets available from
Colin Pullan on 0113
Our Christmas Draw is one of the major fund raising events of the year and we would like to thank Boost Drinks, YTV Rentals and everyone else who so generously donated prizes. Thanks are also due to members and their families for their wonderful support in making our last draw so successful.
At our Trustee’s Seminar in February, we made a decision regarding future Christmas Draws. Normally, the price of tickets are “5 for a pound.” The tickets this year will be £1.00 each.
This doesn’t make much difference to your chances of winning for the same money since there will be one fifth as many tickets, but it will make a huge difference to our printing and postage costs.
We will be able to send out the tickets in the same envelope as the newsletter mailshot and we anticipate the total savings for the charity will be in the region of £2500.00.
We are sure you will agree that the money will be better spent on the patients of the Heart Centre than on our printing firm and Royal Mail!
Paul Kaufman
TrusteeDoctor: Does it hurt when you do this?
Patient: Yes.
Doctor: Well, don't do that.
--
Patient: Doctor, should I file my nails?
Doctor: No! Throw them away like everybody else.
Neville and Jean Jackson & Group at St Luke’s Beeston
I continue to be amazed that this small group can still raise some lovely sums through small raffles and collecting small change.
Over the years through Neville and Jean Jackson keeping the group together they have raised many thousands of pounds for the Take Heart Charity.
It is always a pleasure to go meet the group and thank them and tell them about the work that the charity is undertaking at this time. Following a cup of tea and mince pie, I was presented with a cheque for the sum of £300.00
Very many thanks.
Photo shows L/R Mrs Jean Jackson and forth from left Mr Neville Jackson and
members of the groupHave you any questions about cardiology you would like answering professionally? Dr Dominik Schlosshan, Consultant Cardiologist, will be pleased to answer them if you write in to the Take Heart office here in Leeds General Infirmary. Or e-mail them to [email protected].
Please note that Dr Schlosshan cannot reply to you personally – questions and answers will be published in the Take Heart newsletter and on our website www.takeheart.net.
Paul Kaufman
Trustee.
Presentation from Mr Peter Stanton
I was delighted to be invited to go along to the Nuffield Hospital, Leeds to receive a cheque for £2000.00 from Mr Peter Stanton. Mr Stanton had raised this magnificent amount through holding a number of musical events for all tastes, called “Chilled Sunday” held on Sunday afternoons at The Engine Shed in Wetherby.
The presentation was with the General Manager of The Nuffield hospital Mr Ian Whitehouse, Dr John Perrins, Consultant Cardiologist and Mr Chris Munsch Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon. Mr Stanton thanked them all for the wonderful care he had received whilst a patient at The Nuffield.
Very many thanks Mr Stanton.
Colin Pullan, MBE
The Harwood Singers
My wife Mary and I were invited to a concert given by The Harwood Singers at The Oxford Place Methodist Church.
Following a lovely performance given by the choir, I was presented with a cheque for the sum of £1000.00. Take Heart was their chosen charity of the year and this magnificent sum was raised by concerts throughout 2011. My grateful thanks to everyone concerned.Photo: Some of the Choir and the presentation by the conductor of the Choir, Kath Harwood
Colin Pullan MBE
Are you a patient or carer?
Would you like to help us shape Tomorrow’s Doctors?please click here
TAKE HEART ANNUAL DAY TRIP. SUNDAY 10TH JUNE 2012
With spring just around the corner, it is time once more to plan our summer day out. This year we will be going to Scarborough for the day.
Price for the coach trip will be £10 for Adults and £6 for Children.
Coaches will pick up at Leeds, Morley, Pudsey, Bradford. Booking form enclosed, please return form before April 30th.
If you would like to book, please ring me on 0113 257 6548.
Edith McLean
Helen Kurdyla will be running the London Marathon for us, Joe Dodds is running the Leeds Half Marathon and Emma Henderson who works for the Community Cardiac Team is also running the Leeds Half Marathon. James Haley will be doing the Forest run in September.
Following last year’s tremendous success, Hilary Sylvester and friends are providing a repeat performance of their Cream Tea afternoon on Saturday 9th June 2012 - 2pm till 4pm at Bilton Community Centre, 48 Bilton Lane, HARROGATE HG1 3DU. A chance to buy handmade crafts and cakes, Tombola, Book Stall, Scones with Strawberries and Cream and Tea and Coffee. Enquiries to Hilary Sylvester 01423 509440.
We are overwhelmed by the generosity of those who expend time and effort in helping us continue the work of the charity here in the Yorkshire Heart Centre at LGI. If you would like to sponsor anyone who is mentioned above, please go to the website www.takeheart.net and click on “sponsorship.”
Thanks also to those who have contributed to our Surgical Ward 14 (now 15) appeal (story on our website). We have already spent several thousand pounds on the new ward and I’ll give more details and pictures next issue.
Bill Stevenson
Trustee and Web Designer
P.S. Letter from an energetic previous FundraiserHi Bill,
Just thought I’d drop you a quick line to let you know I successfully made it up Mt Kilimanjaro and raised £3,300 for SPARKS, the children's medical research charity in the process! Quite a year!
Hope all's well with you and Take Heart and that my money's gone to good use.
Best regards
Chris WrightLETTERS
To: Take Heart
From: AbiHi Take Heart
I never knew about Take Heart until I was finally told I needed ablation for SVT. I am currently resting up at home and recovering well after having the procedure last week.
I have had a genuine lifelong fear of hospitals and this was the first time I had ever had to be in one for any length of time. I honestly cannot tell you how amazing I think the Cardiac departments, Take Heart and all the staff are. I was on Ward 19 ‘F’ Floor, and was very kindly given side room 9 to try and make the whole experience a little less anxious. The Zen garden which my room overlooked is beautiful and really helped me get through the 5 hours of waiting to go have the ablation. To some, free TV and a nice garden to look at may not seem that important, but honestly, you should be so incredibly proud of what you have done.
I’m only 26, one of the youngest I think in there at the time! But I did get talking to a few of the older people, who sadly were going to be in there for weeks. I had a particularly nice chat with one gentleman, he was 92, been at the LGI for 3 weeks, misses his wife dearly and couldn’t for the life of him work out why there was a fish tank outside his ward! ? I explained Take Heart to him and showed him some of the things it provides, and it really made me happy that when I left, he was quite content watching the fish! Amazed!
I don’t have much money, but I am going to be an avid follower of Take Heart now and look for any opportunity to support. I’m sure you get a lot of emails, but I just really want to let you know that as cliché as it may sound, you will be changing people’s lives and for people going through things a lot tougher than I did, your efforts will make horrible times much easier for them and their families.
I wish you all the luck in the world
With great thanks from Abi Wilkinson and her very happy and healthy new heart
xx
Thank you for that Abi. It’s always lovely to hear from people who have had a good experience of the Yorkshire Heart Centre. For those who want to know, "SVT" stands for supraventricular tachycardia. SVT is a rhythm disorder which involves the upper chambers of the heart ("supraventricular" means above the ventricles or lower chambers). SVT is unlike other types of heart disease and affects people of all ages. When someone has SVT, their heart rhythm goes out of control and suddenly starts racing.Bill Stevenson
Zen Garden
Dear all at Take Heart.
I would like to say a how much we appreciated your beautiful Zen Garden when my Dad was rushed into hospital last weekend. I had to drive up from Buckinghamshire early Saturday morning, dropping my young daughters off at in-laws in Sheffield then onto Leeds for a quick cuppa before taking my Mum and handicapped brother into the LGI.It was so calming to look out onto the garden as we were all extremely tired and stressed . Watching the little lanterns light up was beautiful. In fact, as we were too tired to go home between visiting, it reminded us of the Thai Cottage round the corner of the hospital where we then went for a relaxed, quiet meal!! I would like to make a donation early in the New Year towards making the Cardiac a positive place to stay.
With many thanks.
Elizabeth HutchinsonWe need new trustees to help run our Charity – in fact, we have vacancies for six at the moment.
The trustees are vital to Take Heart and you would find the commitment and work involved very satisfying. Many of you enjoy a better life style, given to you by the surgeons and staff at the LGI, so can you repay them by supporting your charity and consider being a trustee?
The work of being a trustee isn’t demanding. We hold a number of committee meetings (approximately one a month) and other activities we undertake include our promotional stall in the reception area of the hospital selling various items, coffee mornings, collecting days, newsletters plus many other items to promote Take Heart.
Because of the six vacancies we have at present, it becomes hard on the other trustees to cover all the various activities, so this is why we need new trustees.
All the work is voluntary and unpaid but we are fortunate in having the commitment of everyone to ensure the continuation of the worthwhile function of the charity.
Our AGM is in June so why not think seriously about becoming a trustee?
The Chairman and any other trustee would be willing to talk to you about what is involved and if necessary arrange for a visit to one of our committee meetings – without any obligation whatever.So have we got your attention on this very important message?
Are you going to volunteer as a trustee?
Please consider this seriously and if you feel you could consider being a trustee, please contact us. The closing date for applications is June 1st 2011.
NB. If you do not wish to be involved as a trustee, would you still like to be involved as a volunteer to help in various functions?
Ron Bretherton
Trustee
THE INTERNET
AND
VIRGIN MONEY GIVING
Take Heart recently changed its method of accepting donations and sponsorship on the internet by signing up with Virgin Money Giving and this is proving to be an excellent move. To donate any amount of money, please click the Virgin icon above.We have also signed up with Vodafone who kindly allow any mobile phone to make a donation of up to £10 by text message to Take Heart. For example, to donate £3.00, simply text 70070 with the following message: TAKE44 3 (TAKE44 is our code for Take Heart and the 3 is the amount you donate.) There is an immediate reply text to you to say thank you. Vodafone charge us nothing for this service and every penny comes to Take Heart.
Bill Stevenson
Trustee
We are always on the lookout for new and secondhand books to sell on our stalls. If you would like to donate any books, please give me a ring on 01924 383646 or e-mail us at [email protected]. Books should be in new or very clean condition since they may be used within the hospital setting. We can collect them if necessary.
Many thanks.
Ron Bretherton
Trustee.
Have you ever wondered who the people are behind Take Heart and responsible for the day to day running of our charity - well, click here to find out
click the banner above to have a lookMorrish and Co. Solicitors
As Honorary Solicitors, Morrish Solicitors LLP offers free initial legal advice to our members and their families. To seek advice telephone Tom Morrish (Yeadon Office) on Leeds 0113 250 7792.or Charlotte Bandawe (City Centre) on 0113 245 0733 or Charles Clough (Pudsey Office) on Leeds 0113 257 0523
please click hereChristmas Eve Ward Round
CARDIAC NURSE
SPECIALIST HELPLINE
Available on Leeds
0113 392 5645(Medical)
0113 392 5647(Surgical)
COLLECTION BOXES
If you require a collection box, or your collection box needs empting,
contact the Take Heart Office on 0113 392 2888
CHANGE OF ADDRESS
Please be sure to let us have full details if you move house so that we can keep our data base up to date for posting out newsletters etcTHE NEXT COFFEE MORNINGS
2nd June 2012 (Queens Jubilee theme)
18 August
17 November
17 February 2013
The coffee mornings are held in Leeds General Infirmary in
Jubilee Wing on F Floor adjacent to the Take Heart Office
from 10am - 12 noon
Take the lift to F Floor - turn left towards Ward 14
and we're first on the leftEveryone is welcome - please drop in for a coffee and a chat
Promotional Stall
In Jubilee Wing
Our promotional stall is in the Reception Area of the
Jubilee Wing every Friday.
We desperately need volunteers to help us run this stall - can you help?
If so, please click here
We're round the corner from the hospital Flower/Card/Refreshment Shop in the Reception area)
