The Friends of Frome Hospital are probably the longest standing volunteering group in Frome who have provided a continuous unbroken service for the community for well over 100 years.
Their status has been well documented way back to the early years of the former Victoria Hospital, when local volunteers were particularly recognised for their commitment during both world wars.
Even with the introduction and changes with the radical post-war NHS system, the hospital Friends never faltered in their allegiance and were an integral part of the daily routine at the ‘Vic’ – as it became known – helping out on the wards and in and around the hospital.
In 1996 it was mooted that plans were to be announced to rebuild the Vic, this revitalised their commitment and laid the foundations for today’s Friends procedures and protocol.
When it was realised that a replacement hospital could not be built on the old Victorian site, the Friends headed a community lobbying campaign to prevent a new hospital facility being built in a neighbouring town. It was by persistent lobbying by the Friends (Friends of Victoria Hospital), and a timely NHS reorganisation, that it was agreed for a new hospital to be built at the former Agricultural Society Showfield.
In 2001, exactly 100 years after the opening of the Victoria Hospital, the Friends formed a Centenary Appeal specifically to raise funds for a range of supplementary furnishings and equipment for patients and staff, which would not be funded within the NHS budget of the £11million building project. Supported by the Rotary and Lions Clubs and numerous donations and bequests from the public and businesses, over £600,000 had been raised and invested by the opening of the new Frome Community Hospital in 2008.
Subsequently over the following decade or so, further income has been donated which has allowed the Friends of Frome Hospital to not only further support the hospital facilities, but to instigate new initiatives to assist other ‘voluntary’ patient care organisations that serve the Frome area.
All that the Friends of Frome Hospital does for the hospital, and in and around the town, is directly down to the huge generosity from the community. The team of trustees, as guardians of this public money, offer total transparency to ensure funds are used for the sole purpose for the betterment of local patient welfare.
Although there is less call on the Friends for funding of equipment within the hospital just now, the trustees have moved to deposit some of the accrued funds into an NHS Trust Donated Fund which allows the hospital management to procure supplementary equipment quickly and to circumnavigate the trials of awaiting lengthy NHS decision making.
Having to move with the times in a new medical era, much of the Friends’ focus is now on supporting key patient care providers who operate either from the hospital/medical practice health park at Enos Way, or who visit patients directly in their homes.
In the Friends terms of reference, they will not contribute to the running and administration costs of any of the approved support groups, but assistance is normally offered in the form of providing specific specialist equipment that may be required to help a particular group of patients. Typically, support has been offered to the cancer, dementia, disability, and mental care sectors.
A further example is the backing of The Rowan maternity team based at the hospital. The Friends were instrumental in providing each midwife with a hi-tech ‘clinic-on-wheels’ bag so that they can provide a personal care package to expectant mothers, from prenatal pregnancy confirmation through to a 28 days postnatal period, directly in their homes. It is believed this was the first team in the country to roll-out this new NHS national initiative.
The Friends literally gave a leg up to the Leg Club which was created by two nursing sisters from the medical practice. They offer an all-age weekly service at the Frome Football Club to patients who suffer from ailments in the lower limbs, such as ulcers and circulation issues. It is reported that as many as eighty patients are seen on a regular basis. The group have even formed their own social circle in support of elderly patients living on their own.
Life Education is a major flagship project. It is directed at school children, aged from 5 to 13- year olds, for them to learn about their bodies and health awareness. Now into its third successive year, the Friends have co-opted the Life Education Wessex mobile classroom to visit all 14 schools in the Frome area. Each individual class has an age-related lesson, with 5-year olds learning simple body awareness, through to the older groups where such issues as drugs and peer pressures are addressed. It has and will have a great long-term impact for good health for the younger Frome generation. Several thousand children have already experienced these lessons.
Anyone walking about Frome will be aware of strategically located green boxes on buildings in high footfall areas. Twenty-six of these publicly available defibrillators (PAD) units have been installed by the Friends and are available 24/7 to assist in the case of a sudden cardiac arrest. The state-of-the-art defibrillators are designed to be used by people with little or no knowledge of medical procedures. Once they are brought to the scene of the emergency, the unit will automatically monitor the casualty and talk the helper through the procedures until the arrival of professional medical help. They have already helped save lives!
To back the Community Defibrillator Project, CPR/ Defibrillator awareness sessions are offered to the public on a regular basis, and special in-class lessons are given to Year 7 and 8 students at Oakfield and Selwood Academies. Over one thousand young students have undertaken these lessons.
The ‘Friends’ continue to lay plans to maintain their momentum into the mid-21st century, and would welcome enquiries from people with the empathy, expertise and management skills to help shape the future. Email: friendsoffromehospital@gmail.com
The Friends of Frome Hospital are the most influential voluntary group making input into local NHS services with the aim of providing the very best of patient care for the people of Frome.
Written by Derek Trick
