Bumper year for Friends' donations (From Hampshire Chronicle)

Bumper year for Friends' donations

1:40pm Sunday 7th February 2010 in

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HEALTHCARE in Winchester has been boosted by a six-figure donation from the League of Friends.

Nearly £200,000 worth of equipment was handed to the local healthcare trust by the friends in 2009.

The money came from donations and legacies, along with fund-raising events.

The latest donation was celebrated at the opening of the new echocardiology laboratory at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital just before Christmas.

The lab, with its innovative equipment, brings Winchester into the forefront of cardiac diagnostic medicine.

The new echocardiology equipment was presented by the friends following a generous bequest by the late Doris Green in memory of her husband, James Frederick Green.

The couple were Wintonians and had lived in the city all their lives. Mrs Green was impressed with the care her husband received at the hospital through his long illness.

The new equipment has many advantages in both diagnosis and teaching. Patients experience less exposure to ionised radiation, and there are opportunities to develop diagnostic techniques.

Trish Spiers, current chairman of the League of Friends, said: “The league are very pleased to be able to offer so much help towards patient care at the hospital.

“I would like to stress the need for future donations, especially under the present climate of recession.”

Mike Gretton, chairman of the trust said: “We are incredibly grateful to the friends for their continued support.

“Last year was a particularly successful one for donations, and the cardiac ultrasound equipment has been a boon for the cardiology department.”