Burnley General Hospital's new baby unit awarded £45k (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Burnley General Hospital's new baby unit awarded £45k

2:14pm Wednesday 1st February 2012 in Health By Peter Magill, Chief reporter

PATIENTS and families have provided generous support to a fledgling maternity unit at Burnley General Hospital.

Several legacies have been donated to the Lancashire Women and Newborn Centre at the Casterton Avenue site.

Around £45,000 has been spent on bedside, blood-oxygen and foetal heart-rate monitors, according to East Lancashire Hospital NHS Trust’s charitable accounts sub-committee.

Some have been purchased through a general purpose fund for the maternity unit but others have come courtesy of two legacies, in the names of Helen Sumner and M Bradley.

Frances Murphy, the trust’s company secretary, said in a board report: “The main charitable activities are contributing to hospital capital expenditure to improve equipment in the patient environment, providing additional comforts and amenities, and staff-related expenditure on training and developments and improving staff amenities.”

Nearly £12,000 has been spent on hoists for the stroke rehabiliation unit at Pendle Community Hospital in Nelson.

Another £14,620 was invested in equipment for the dialysis unit at Burnley General, from the medical division’s general fund.

Several other legacies, totalling more than £100,000, have been received during the same year, for services at Burnley and Blackburn hospitals.

The trust received a voluntary income of £221,000 for the year, along with £145,000 in fundraising and saw £62,000 returned from investments.

This is slightly down on 2009-10, when voluntary income topped £288,000 and fundraising accounted for £156,000.

In total the trust’s charitable fund now holds just short of £1.88million.