KCHC-AR-2023 Final Signed - Flipbook - Page 15
Improving patient and visitor experience
Pioneering support for critical care patients
Thanks to a charitable grant from NHS Charities
Together, we have previously funded King's
psychosocial team to help provide vital support for
patients in critical care. We are pleased to report
that the team has made such an impact that they are
becoming a more permanent fixture within the Trust.
The make–up of the team enables a multi-disciplinary
approach, addressing many of the factors that can
delay discharge or increase the risk of readmission,
such as safeguarding complications, homelessness,
psychiatric assessment, and medication reviews. By
the end of March 2023, the team had received 1,802
inpatient referrals, primarily patients and families
seeking emotional support in the most challenging
circumstances.
Not only do they
support patients and
staff, they free up nurses
to focus on patient care.
They are experts in dealing
with processes that we
previously had to fumble
through.
Ward matron
Images: Bramble with Frithë on the podium at the World Transplant
Games in Perth (left) and (right) at King's four days after receiving his
live donor liver transplant from Frithë, at just eight months old.
Bringing young transplant patients
together through sport
During 2022/23 we continued our long-running
support for King’s presence in the British Transplant
Games. Our funding of £33,000 from our Transforming
Liver Care appeal supported 24 King’s transplant
patients aged two to 17 to compete in the four-day
event.
Having been part of King’s youth team for many years,
Bramble Johnson, 19, took part in the adult Team
GB at the recent World Transplant Games in Perth,
Australia, where he scooped two golds and a bronze.
His mum, Frithë, explains just what the Games have
meant to them both:
“Bramble had a liver transplant before his first birthday
and further major surgery and chemotherapy at the
age of three. While he made a speedy recovery, posttransplant life involves regular rounds of immune
suppression drugs, blood tests, hospital appointments,
scans, biopsies, and more.
“Bramble didn't know anyone else who'd had a
transplant or could really understand his experiences.
Being a parent of a child with complex medical needs
can also be extremely isolating. Fear of what the future
holds can be so overwhelming at times, so it has been
very reassuring for all of us to meet other families with
similar stories.
"Competing is about more than the medals – it is far
more about happiness, confidence, friendship, being a
team and connecting with other people who've had the
same experiences. Bramble’s confidence has increased
after every Games and he's found new inspiration
to keep training to be the best he can be."
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