Support Cheltenham Intensive Care

Proudly raising in excess of £250,000 over the past 15 years, solely for the Cheltenham Intensive Care Unit, funding staff training, research and life saving equipment

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  • About the Cheltenham

    Intensive Care Trust

    The Cheltenham General Hospital Intensive Care Trust was formed in 1982 and, with generous public support has helped to provide critically ill patients in Cheltenham with the highest standard of care.

    In addition to funding the team of doctors, nurses, and physiotherapists and essential life saving equipment for the Intensive Care Unit, such as patient monitors and breathing machines, the trust has also provided grants for nursing staff to attend courses and undertake higher education in order to help them develop and keep up-to-date in this ever-changing medical speciality. The team of doctors, nurses physiotherapists and others are justifiably proud of the standard of care they can provide, and are greatly encouraged in this demanding work by the support of our local community.

    However, as medical science advances, the demand for intensive care continues to grow. The unit currently cares for around 700 patients each year, some of whom have had major planned surgery and others who are admitted as an emergency. The unit is vital to support the work of other medical staff who care for patients being treated for conditions such as cancer or a heart attack.

    The National Health Service provides all key equipment for the unit, but the Trust has been active in providing a substantial top-up to allow the purchase of additional or more sophisticated equipment enabling the unit to provide truly "state of the art" care. Unfortunately, equipment has a limited life and replacements are necessary every 5 to 10 years. Support from the Trust also helps to ensure that such equipment is replaced on a timely basis. Most recently, the Trust provided around £100,000 to help with the development of a new unit, which was completed in April 2009.

    Whilst we enjoy good health the possibility of needing the services of the unit seems remote but with the support of our local community the Trust can ensure the Intensive Care Unit is in the best possible position to carry out its vital work. If you would like to support the Intensive Care Trust, simply click on the button to donate no or download our leaflet completing the attached form and returning it with your cheque to our Treasurer. Address details can be found on the contact us page.

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Equipment & Research

The Cheltenham Intensive Care Trust is a charity setup to provide funds for equiptment, research and training grants for the unit at Cheltenham Hospital. The trust has raised over £250,000 in the last 15 years, which has all been spent on the intensive care unit.

This includes the following:

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  • Ultrasound Machine

    The Trust purchased this ultrasound machine in 2005 for £50,000 primarily to allow the consultants to perform their own heart scans on critically ill patients. This machine allows the structure and function of the heart to be easily assessed and helps guide the treatment of patients.

    Since its purchase many patients have benefitted from the information it provides and countless lives have been saved. The units lead consultant Rob Orme says "The machine is a huge asset to the department. In fact, we have collected information that shows that over 50% of patients have a change in their treatment made as a result of such heart scans. As a result of having published our experiences in a leading UK journal the Intensive Care Unit is now known across the country because of our use of ultrasound".

  • Ventilator

    This ventilator, often called a life support machine, was purchased by the Trust to provide the mechanism of breathing for a patient who is physically unable to breathe, or is breathing insufficiently. This was purchased in 2007 and is another vital piece of equipment that the Trust has managed to supply thanks to kind donations.

  • Dialysis Machine

    This dialysis machine was purchased for £8,000 and provides an artificial kidney for critically ill patients whose kidneys have failed. The machine provides temporary support whilst the kidneys recover, and is one of 3 owned by the Intensive Care Unit.

  • Research

    The Trust has also been able to support research projects by making funds available to cover some of the costs. In 2007 the Trust was able to support a project investigating whether an "electronic nose" was able to identify bacteria in the sputum of critically ill patients on a breathing machine. The findings were published in a journal in 2010. The electronic nose was able to detect the presence of bacteria with a reasonable degree of accuracy, thus opening up the possibility of detecting the presence of pneumonia earlier than conventional tests that rely on being able to grow the bacteria in a laboratory. Although this is still experimental it is hoped this exciting research can continue and lead to real benefits to patients in the future.