New £6,000 kit to improve patient care at South Tyneside Hospital - thanks to League of Friends

The Orthopaedic and Cardiology wards and Emergency Assessment Unit each now has a special board with inbuilt scales which can be slid under patients who are bedbound, acutely unwell or who have injuries such as a broken hip. It can also be used to measure the patient’s height.

Matron Rachel Thompson said: “We are so grateful to The League of Friends for this equipment, which is helping us to improve patient care.

“Measurements of a patient’s weight and height are fundamental to their care in terms of their nutrition and hydration and medication dosage. However, when a patient is immobile getting a weight reading can be a really difficult procedure requiring a hoist and, sometimes, it is not even possible. The patient transfer scales enable our medical staff to quickly obtain this vital information with as little disruption as possible to the patient so we can treat them effectively.”

The League of Friends was founded in 1948 – the same year as the NHS. Over the years, its volunteers have raised hundreds of thousands of pounds to provide local patients and staff with extra comforts and equipment.