What we're fundraising for

We’re aiming to raise at least £1million this calendar year to enhance care for patients across all wards and departments at Salisbury District Hospital and support the NHS staff who care for them. Here are some examples of the projects we are looking to fund this year:

Cancer Patients

  • High definition videoscopes to provide a one-stop diagnostic service for head and neck cancer patients in the Hospital’s ENT Department (£115,000) *
  • Supporting people undergoing cancer treatment on the Pembroke Unit (ward and chemotherapy suite) and in other areas of the hospital by funding specialist equipment, aromatherapy, headwear for patients losing their hair, free refreshments, swimming sessions, contributing towards wellbeing groups and improving the patient environment with enhanced furnishings and décor **
  • Supporting prehabilitation, a programme of one-to-one support focusing on physical exercise, diet and weight, and mental health, to help patients prepare for surgery and treatment **
  • Maintain and enhance the award-winning patient-focused environment in the Stars Appeal Breast Unit and continue to provide the very latest diagnostic and treatment equipment **

Babies, Children and their families

  • 20 specialist cots for newborn babies on the Labour and Postnatal wards (£38,000)*
  • Maintain the Stars Appeal Benson Suite and fund the Stars Appeal Bereavement Midwife to help bereaved families following the death of their baby and offer support during subsequent pregnancies (£50,000) **
  • Provide free accommodation and home comforts for up to 250 families whose babies are being treated on the Neonatal Unit having been born prematurely or critically ill and other enhancements including state-of-the-art treatment and diagnostic equipment, virtual visiting and play facilities for siblings **
  • Maintain and enhance the child-friendly environment in the Sarum Children’s Ward and Squire’s Outpatient Unit and fund state-of-the-art treatment and diagnostic equipment. Ensure parents can stay in a proper bed next to their unwell child or in the dedicated parents’ flat **
  • Fund the Stars Appeal Play Assistant on Sarum Ward and provide play therapy equipment and resources (£30,000) **
  • Stars Appeal distraction boxes which are filled with items to help adolescents arriving at hospital in mental health crisis to feel less anxious **

Older Patients

  • Supporting more than 10,000 older people and people with dementia in wards across the Hospital by providing activities such as music, storytelling, dance, reading and playing games, as well as companionship and social activities like trips away from the ward through our Stars Appeal Live Artists and Stars Appeal Engagers (£65,000) **
  • Funding equipment, support and rehabilitation for stroke patients being treated on the Stroke Unit **

Heart Patients

  • A mechanical CPR machine (£15,000) *
  • Specialist staff training, rehabilitation classes and enhancements and additional equipment throughout cardiac services including the Stars Appeal funded Cardiac Suite and on Tisbury Coronary Care Ward **

For Every Patient

  • Free Stars Appeal Wi-Fi for all patients, staff and visitors (£35,000) **
  • A 24/7 Hospital Chaplaincy service providing vital support to patients and families at the most difficult of times (£60,000) **
  • Stars Appeal toiletry packs, free TV cards and clothing for patients arriving at hospital in an emergency or facing hardship (£10,000) **
  • Artcare, the Hospital’s Arts Project which enhances the hospital environment for patients and staff through interior design and art projects **
  • Water coolers providing chilled, filtered water to patients and staff in over 40 frontline wards and departments (£6,000) **
  • Maintain and create Stars Appeal gardens and other outdoor spaces for the benefit of patients, visitors and staff (£15,000) **
  • Christmas extras including ensuring every patient in hospital on Christmas Day receives a present and bringing a festive feel to the hospital site, including the provision of Christmas trees and hampers for staff (£20,000) **

Patients in other areas of our hospital

  • Keyhole surgery equipment to enable 1000+ additional operations to take place each year in the Hospital’s operating theatres, reducing waiting and recovery times for patients (£420,000) *
  • A dedicated ultrasound system for the Acute Medical Unit which will speed both diagnosis and treatment for patients (£37,000) *
  • Helping create a new Day Surgery Unit discharge lounge and waiting area (£92,000) *
  • A dedicated room in the Gynaecology Department for women to receive treatment after sadly experiencing a miscarriage early on in their pregnancy (£65,000) *
  • An audiometer to enable the Audiology Department to provide the latest technology for hearing assessments and hearing aid fittings. It will also enable patients to have hearing aids tested and programmed remotely so they won’t have to travel to hospital (£12,000) *
  • Stars Appeal Spinal Unit Recreation Service which provides vital days out and social activities to patients spending many months in hospital trying to come to terms with life-changing injuries that have often resulted in permanent paralysis **
  • Enhance care on Radnor Intensive Care Unit by providing additional equipment and facilities and staff training and wellbeing **
  • Support Burns and Plastics patients on the Odstock Burns and Plastics Ward by providing additional equipment and facilities and holidays and recreational activities for children with burns **

Salisbury Hospital’s NHS staff

  • Provide support to staff including a dedicated staff counsellor, psychological wellbeing practitioner along with wellbeing groups, peer support sessions, social events and morale boosting treats **
  • Help front-line staff by providing additional training, education and support to help them deliver the very best care to their patients **

Projects marked * are one-off items which we hope to fund during this year. Projects marked ** are ongoing and we aim to raise this amount of money each year to sustain them.

Should the amount we raise for the items listed above be insufficient we may not be able to fund all of these projects in which case we will fund those that are considered the highest priority. Should we raise more than the amount required, we will fund additional projects that enhance care for local people being treated at Salisbury District Hospital. If you wish to support one of these projects specifically, find out more, learn about other projects we are funding this year or wish to suggest projects we should be funding please contact us.

Major projects and other work we have previously funded

In addition to aiming to raise at least £1million each year for projects like those detailed above, from time-to-time the Stars Appeal raises funds for very large one-off projects. These have included:

… and here are just some examples of other Stars Appeal projects that generous donations, fundraising and legacy gifts have enabled us to fund in recent years:

Funded 2023

Funded 2022

  • £25,000 – Expansion of the Stars Appeal’s Neonatal Unit family accommodation
  • £5,000 – Eye Autorefractor sight assessment machine for children
  • £19,000 – Patient warming system for use in main theatres
  • £50,000 – Reclining sleeper chairs for women and their partners across the Hospital’s maternity services including the Labour Ward, Postnatal Ward, Beatrice Birth Centre, Neonatal Unit and Benson Suite
  • £43,000 – Finapres Nova monitoring system to enhance the investigation of the cause of blackouts in heart patients
  • £75,000 – 63 advanced vital signs monitors to increase the availability of dedicated bedside monitoring
  • £25,000 – Sim-Mum full-body simulation training dummy covering all stages of labour and birth
  • £6,000 – Sara Plus powered standing and raising aid for rehabilitation patients
  • £42,000 – State-of-the-art incubators for babies on the Neonatal Unit
  • £12,000 – Hysteroscopy couch in the Gynaecology Department
  • £7,000 – Electric standing frame for the Stroke Unit
  • £9,000 – Courtyard garden in the Urology Department
  • £5,000 – Handheld ultrasound for the Respiratory Department
  • £5,000 – Relax and view wall panels in the Radiology Department
  • £10,000 – Adjustable dining tables for the Spinal Unit
  • £20,000 – Enhancement of the new Medical Surgical Outpatients department with artwork and interior design
  • £9,000 – Staff room furniture and furnishings for Main Theatres and Day Surgery
  • £3,000 – Speech therapy portable electropalatograpy machine
  • £9,000 – Refurbishment of the Doctors’ Mess
  • £33,000 – Enhancement of the fracture clinic
  • £50,000 – Refurbishment of the Medical Engineering Department for patients with complex disabilities and their carers
  • £150,000 – 2 intraoral scanners for the Oral Medicine Department

Funded 2021 or earlier

  • £100,000 – Simulation training, including the provision of state-of-the-art patient simulators and the funding of a dedicated Simulation Technician to provide a virtual treatment environment that enables staff to develop their skills to the highest possible level
  • £75,000 – Fibroscanner, a specialist liver scanner that enables the early identification of the risk of liver disease
  • £9,000 – New furnishings for staff rooms across main theatres and the Day Surgery Unit
  • £10,000 – 18 freestanding mask and gel dispenser sanistations around the Hospital
  • £5,000 – Irrigation tower for urology surgery
  • £20,000 – Dedicated bathroom for the more independent patients on Radnor Intensive Care Unit to aid their rehabilitation, independence and recovery
  • £50,000 – Pulsed dye laser in the Laser clinic which is used to alleviate scarring and lighten red coloured skin marks for example for patients with burns
  • £15,000 – Medical image recording device for the Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) Department enhancing care for patients by enabling the viewing and capture of endoscopic images in high definition for ENT patients such as those with cancer and voice problems
  • £26,000 – Dedicated ultrasound machine for Rheumatology patients who can have Ultrasound scans in clinic rather than being referred for a scan at another time
  • £105,000 – Enhancement of Wessex Rehabilitation Centre with new facilities including an anti-gravity treadmill, bouldering wall and therapy kitchen to provide patients with severe limb injuries and chronic pain with the very best therapy
  • £20,000 – Stars Appeal footcare service
  • £77,000 – Topographer and a Cyclo Laser for the Eye Clinic meaning eye patients can have the latest treatment in Salisbury without having to travel to other hospitals
  • £15,000 – Computerised CTG machine to enable enhanced monitoring of unborn babies and their mothers
  • £23,000 – Dedicated Ultrasound scanner for the Neonatal Unit so premature babies requiring brain scans or scans to check hips for dislocation risk can be scanned here rather than transferred to Southampton or elsewhere
  • £5,000 – Stars Appeal Foot Care Service offering free foot care to long stay patients on the elderly care wards
  • £42,000 – State-of the-art motion capture gait lab where the needs of patients with difficulty walking can be analysed and where they can be helped to walk more easily and without pain
  • £30,000 – Fluorescence microscope to enhance Salisbury Hospital’s Genetics Department research into cancer including leukaemia and bladder cancer
  • £120,000 – Treatment and diagnostic equipment in the Neonatal (special care baby) Unit
  • £90,000 – 3D cone beam head scanner for Oral Maxillo Facial Surgery
  • £100,000 – Creation and enhancement of the new Eye Clinic
  • £11,500 – Upgraded Pembroke Unit Chemotherapy furniture making cancer patients time in hospital more comfortable
  • £65,000 – Faxitron machine providing faster diagnosis for breast cancer patients
  • £16,000 – Garden of Reflection and Rehabilitation to help heal patients and their families both physically and mentally
  • £9,000 – Refurbishment of the day room and creation of a new garden on Breamore Ward
  • £60,000 – Dedicated Bereavement Suite
  • £10,000 – Patients’ lounge in the Spinal Unit
  • £3,000 – Registrar’s office where people can easily register births and deaths whilst at the hospital
  • £15,000 – Dedicated ultrasound machine for Prostate Cancer patients in the Urology Department
  • £55,000 – Portable bilirubin (Jaundice) meters for community midwifes
  • £25,000 – Advanced rehabilitation equipment for stroke patients
  • £24,000 – Research project to help people with a spinal cord injury
  • £66,000 – Beverage trolleys for 18 wards
  • £11,000 – Siblings playground on the Neonatal (special care baby) Unit
  • £170,000 – State-of-the-art equipment to bring new Endobronchial Ultrasound and Thoracoscopy lung cancer diagnostic procedures to Salisbury meaning patients can be diagnosed more quickly and no longer have to travel to bigger specialist hospitals
  • £10,000 – Enhancement of furnishings in every room on the Burns and Plastics Unit (Odstock Ward)

This is just a selection of the projects that the Stars Appeal has funded since our launch in 2007. We never forget that we couldn’t do any of this without our brilliant donors, fundraisers and those that so kindly remember the Stars Appeal in their Wills – Thank you.

* Please note the Stars Appeal is not responsible for the content of external sites. 

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