Heartlands Hospital launched a campaign this week, to raise awareness of patient nutrition with a ‘come dine with me’ style open day.

Visitors, members of the public and staff are invited to taste some of the meals served to patients and were given information on how food comes from the producer to the patient bedside.

Diane Eltringham, head nurse at the Hospital and one of the Trust’s “keeping nourished” team said: “Patient nutrition has always been a priority to our nursing teams and we felt the need to introduce a more productive way of monitoring our patient’s nutrition levels.

“A red cup and plate system is being rolled out across the Trust to help nurses identify which patients need support and careful monitoring. The red tray and cup allows ward staff to easily identify those patients who are at risk of dehydration or malnourishment and ensure the appropriate level of assistance and support is offered to patients.”

All wards across the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust, including Good Hope and Solihull Hospitals, will be using the red cup system as the programme is rolled out next month.

Good Hope Hospital’s new multi-million ward block building has received an extra boost with the announcement that it is the first in the West Midlands to receive ‘Secured by Design’ accreditation by West Midlands Police.

Secured by Design is the official UK Police flagship initiative owned and managed by ACPO (Association of Chief Police Officers) and is based upon the principles of ‘designing out crime’. To achieve the award, the Hospital worked in partnership with the Police crime prevention design advisor from the pre-planning stages of the build through to completion, focusing on creating a safe environment through effective design.

The ward block building hosts the latest crime prevention measures, including a safe and security-focused layout, effective management practices in place and quality hardware such as doors, windows and locks all reaching the standards required for ‘Secured by Design’ accreditation.

Phil Chambers, Good Hope lead security management specialist, said: “We are committed to keeping our patients, staff and visitors in a safe, secure environment whilst at our Hospital, so any efforts we can undertake to prevent a crime being committed is invaluable. This nationally recognized accreditation adds another string to our new building’s bow and will bring long terms benefits to all those involved with the services provided there.”

Chief superintendent James Andronov, the head of Sutton Coldfield’s Local Policing Unit, said: “It is really encouraging to see that our local hospital is prioritizing security for their patients, visitors and staff and that they have fully committed to this project along with our crime prevention design advisor, the architect and contractor to achieve the accreditation.

“Local officers will now work to complement the design of the building to further reduce the potential for crime in this area.”

Cystic fibrosis patients at Heartlands Hospital received a generous donation, this week, from a local golf club.

Members of the Stonebridge Golf Club in Meriden held charity golf events, organised a captains dinner and received donations from members to raise more than £5,700 for the cystic fibrosis ward at the Hospital.

Dr David Honeybourne said: “We are extremely grateful to the golf club for their donation. That amount of money can make a huge difference to us and will be used to support our patients in making their hospital experience as pleasant as possible”.

Geoff Lane, captain of the golf club said: “We chose the Cystic Fibrosis unit at Heartlands, because of my personal experience of the hard work and dedication of the staff in the Unit in providing care and support to their patients”.

The money will be used to provide equipment for patients to make their stay in the unit as comfortable as possible.

Birmingham City fans at Heartlands Hospital will be in for a treat this week when the clubs Carling Cup pays the hospital a visit.

Patients and visitors will get the chance to be photographed with the cup on Wednesday 20 April at the hospitals main entrance and help raise money to go towards the refurbishment of the hospitals children’s ward.

Chris Morrell, hospital play specialist said: “I am a huge City fan and can’t wait for the cup to come to the hospital. On the day we will also be asking those who wish to have their photo taken to offer a donation to our children and family centred care appeal, which will be raising money to completely refurbish the children’s ward.

“This will give all of those patients who weren’t able to attend the game at Wembley due to being in hospital a chance to see the cup and celebrate all over again.”

Solihull’s very own Toyota dealership has made a pledge to regularly donate to Friends of Solihull Hospital (FOSH) latest appeal.

FOSH are on a fundraising mission to raise a massive £87,000 to fund a laparoscopic camera stacking system used when performing life saving surgery on patients. The group have so far raised an impressive £11,600 for the cause and are well on the way to reaching their target.

Organiser, after sales manager Gary Hale, from Toyota World will be responsible for  Toyota’s generous commitment of donating £5 for each customer satisfaction survey completed by customers.

Martin O’Neill, dealer principal, said: “We are always looking for worthy causes to give back to the community and are delighted to be able to support FOSH in raising money for a much needed piece of hospital equipment. We are currently donating around £100 per month but the more questionnaires we receive, the more we will give.”

FOSH will be holding a number of events for everyone to get involved in, if you would like to find out more information or if  you would like to make a donation please contact Liz Stevenson on 07909912525 orliz@steventon.net.

More than 1.5 million suffers of renal failure in the West Midlands are to benefit from the extension of a new dialysis unit – now one of the largest of its kind in the country.

Situated in Castle Vale, the redesigned state-of-the-art unit is an expansion of the haemodialysis services at Heartlands Hospital. The facility houses over 30 dialysis stations and since opening in 2004 has doubled the number of patients it sees, treating over 200 patients every week.

Vijayan Suresh, clinic director for renal, said: “The unit is a huge investment for the Hospital and has meant we can treat more of our patients closer to home and in the community. The unit works as an outpatient facility and has been extended and resigned to include more dialysis stations. It also has a self care area for those patients who are able to carry out their own dialysis under the supervision of medical staff.”

Dr Indy Dasgupta, consultant in renal medicine, said: “Previously we were treating around 96 patients per week and since opening the unit this has now more than doubled. This new unit also offers holiday dialysis for those travelling from other areas, who still need to undergo vital treatment.”

Heartlands Hospital, part of Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust provides renal and dialysis services for the east of Birmingham, Solihull, south east Staffordshire and parts of Warwickshire.