LEAGUE OF FRIENDS DONATE STATE OF THEART BEDS TO ORMSKIRK HOSPITAL

THE League of Friends at Ormskirk and District General Hospital has donated £56,000 to purchase 20 new state-of-the-art trolleys for the Treatment Centre.

The new trolleys, known as Flexi-beds, have been imported from America and are specifically for use in the Treatment Centre where endoscopy and day surgery procedures are undertaken.

Flexi-beds are designed with patient comfort in mind and offer a wider, deeper mattress. They can be lowered so patients with poor mobility can get on easily without needing help from staff. The Flexi-bed can also be changed into a seated position, particularly beneficial for post-bronchoscopy patients as an aid to breathing.

Lesley Ritchie, Clinical Manager for the Treatment Centre, said:- "We would like to thank the League of Friends for their generous donation.    It was a few years ago when we identified a need for the Flexi-beds but unfortunately no funding was available. The League of Friends’ donation has really made a difference. Patients are now much more comfortable and relaxed in the new beds. If they’re happy, we’re happy!"

 Watts the answer for Betts?

ON 5 October 2011 Anthony Watts was unveiled as the 12th new player to be donning Vikings colours in 2012 after the 25 year old Australian stand off agreed a 1 year deal at the Stobart Stadium Halton.  Watts made his NRL debut with Cronulla Sharks in 2007, before moving to North Queensland Cowboys where he spent the following three seasons ahead of a move to Sydney Roosters for the 2011 campaign. Recognised as an outstanding player in both attack and defence, Anthony also brings a tremendous utility value to Denis Betts’ team given his ability to compete in either of the halves positions or at hooker.  In what’s been a busy couple of months for the Vikings in the player marketplace, subject to receiving the necessary visa, Betts is pleased to have secured the services of another high quality athlete with unlimited potential, as he explains:- “Anthony already has a proven track record in the NRL and he is now backing himself to achieve the same heights in Super League. At 25, he’s still got a lot of unfulfilled goals and plenty to prove in the game which makes his signing all the more pleasing. As a club we share his ambition and recognise that he’s coming to Widnes Vikings for the right reasons.”

Hospital oil paintings feature in national collection

4 paintings from Southport and Formby District General Hospital are featured in a new national online collection of 200,000 works of art.  The Your Paintings project is a joint initiative between the BBC, the Public Catalogue Foundation and the participating collections from across the UK.

Paintings in oil owned by the state and local authorities together with those held in charitable trusts for the benefit of the public make up the collection.  Local authority and national museum collections are the majority of the institutions represented. But paintings held by hospitals, universities, town halls, local libraries and even a lighthouse are also on the site.

The 4 paintings from Southport were bought with the proceeds from art sales held at the hospital during the 1990s.

Chief Executive Jonathan Parry said:- "At the time we had relationships with a number of artists who shared the proceeds of sales of their work to staff with the hospital.  It was the money from those sales that allowed us to purchase the paintings. There are numerous works in other media around the Trust not featured in Your Paintings that were acquired in this way."

The 4 paintings featured are by 2 artists, the Scottish Liverpool-based artist Laird Galbraith and Huddersfield-based Rosie Lonnon.  Galbraith’s works, 2 oils entitled Hot Tie and Chinese Whispers, are hung in the Boardroom at Southport hospital. They were painted between 1993 and 1994.  Lonnon’s 1998 works in oil and collage on paper, Elements, Southport Hospital and Arcade, can be seen in the reception of the rehabilitation unit.

"Original artworks in hospitals are known to help improve the well-being not only of patients and visitors but staff too.  While we have not added to our collection for many years now, it is nice to know that some of the works acquired nearly 20 years ago are now part of a national collection." said Jonathan.