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Welcome
Welcome
from our Chief Executive
and Chair of Trustees
As the Charity dedicated to advancing life-changing
care at King’s, we have continued to support our
hospital teams’ response to the ongoing COVID-19
pandemic, while simultaneously pressing forward
with key developments to help take care further.
Our dedicated staff, who wholeheartedly embody
our values of ambition, creativity, collaboration and
compassion, have made this possible.
We were able, however, to bring to fruition several
projects and posts that we had committed funds to in
previous years – including the launch of the new patient
entertainment system (p12), the development of new
technology to ease the check-in process for patients
(p12), and the appointment of a senior lecturer in
neurosurgery (p8), while also increasing our support for
the King’s Volunteers programme (p14-15).
While 2021/22 began with a phased easing of lockdown
measures, it was not long before the emergence of the
Omicron variant tightened them again. Even though all
government-mandated COVID-19 restrictions had been
lifted before the end of the year, King's hospitals had
no time to draw breath. Facing increasing pressure to
manage the backlog of cases delayed by the pandemic,
we knew it was vital to use our resources to support
staff, including funding a variety of roles, spaces and
services dedicated to improving staff wellbeing (p18).
We continued to support the advancement of
pioneering research by world-leading specialists
at King’s. With our funding, researchers have the
ability to take their ideas through the early stages of
development. This is critical as they then have the
proof of concept that is required to seek large-scale
funding. With our sustained emphasis on supporting
liver research (p10-11), some of the work we have raised
funds for in previous years is already saving lives and,
thanks to ongoing clinical trials, could save many more
in the future.
With the pandemic unrelenting in its demands on
the Trust, it was not possible to progress some of our
planned major projects or to relaunch the reward and
recognition scheme for King’s staff and volunteers.
The brief hiatus in social restrictions in the summer
enabled us to hold our long-delayed Great Hospital
Hike in September (p24-25). Every inch of the eighteen
“Among the key underlying
principles for the new strategy is
the importance of making patients
and their loved ones feel seen and
supported, with no one left behind.”
George King, Chair
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