PRESS RELEASE 18th June 2018
To celebrate the 70th birthday of the NHS, the arts team at Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust – rb&hArts – is delighted to announce a programme of gratitude-themed events to mark the milestone, 'NHS 70: Thanks for Everything'.
This tribute to the history of care provided by the Trust is delivered thanks to the Heritage Lottery Fund. It comprises an exhibition and talks on the history of gratitude at Royal Brompton Hospital by Imperial College’s principal teaching fellow, Giskin Day, who teaches medical humanities and communicating science, and co-ordinates the Science, Culture & Society field of courses within the Imperial Horizons programme.
There will also be Singing for Breathing performances on the wards and patients and staff will enjoy tea and cakes with the NHS Big 7Tea on 5 July.
The lunch-time lectures and gratitude tours are free of charge and open to the public, although online registration is required.
- 2 July, 12.30pm - 'How can gratitude inform high-quality care?' followed by a gratitude tour. This talk explores the way gratitude helps to maintain the morale of healthcare workers during times of great strain on the NHS. Giskin looks at the expression and reception of gratitude in healthcare followed by a walk to look at physical representations.
Book here. - 10 July, 12.30pm - 'Gratefully yours' – This talk focuses on almoners; medical social workers who existed pre-NHS to help the poor, and continued in the role of hospital social workers after 1948. The almoners' letters exchanges with former TB patients highlight some of the fascinating stories of stigma and stamina from those whose voices are not usually heard in history.
Book here.
Exhibition 'Thanks for Everything' will present a new permanent artwork by Carrie Reichardt.
Using stories and images found through volunteer-led archival research and interviews, the exhibition examines how gratitude is expressed through art, heritage and communication.
This anniversary will also be commemorated with a permanent artwork by self-titled craftivist and celebrated social heritage art installation artist Carrie Reichardt.
The exhibition will remain on display in Royal Brompton Hospital’s ground floor foyer exhibition space until 30 September 2018.
You can find out more about the programme at the Trust and how to book a place for the gratitude talks and tours here.
Ends
For further information, please contact:
Lucy Hunter
Communications officer
Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust
Tel: 020 7352 8121 (ext.2237) Mobile : 07891 310 924
Email: l.hunter@rbht.nhs.uk
Follow us on Twitter: @RBandH
Notes to editors
Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust is the UK’s largest specialist centre for the treatment of heart and lung disease. Working from two sites, Royal Brompton Hospital in Chelsea, West London, and Harefield Hospital, near Uxbridge, the Trust has an international reputation for the expertise of its staff, high standard of care and research success. Experts at the Trust help patients from all age groups who have heart and lung problems and provide some of the most complex surgery and sophisticated treatments available anywhere in the world.
The Trust is the UK’s largest centre for the treatment of adult congenital heart disease and is the country’s leading provider of specialist respiratory care. Over the years the Trust has been responsible for major medical breakthroughs, such as the UK’s first combined heart and lung transplant. It established the UK’s first adult service for cystic fibrosis, which is now one of Europe’s biggest treatment centres for the condition, and has pioneered the use of primary angioplasty for the treatment of heart attacks. Today the Heart Attack Centre at Harefield has one of the fastest arrival-to-treatment times in the UK, a crucial factor in patients’ survival.
As a member of the Academic Health Science Centre (AHSC), in collaboration with Imperial College London, Imperial College Healthcare Trust and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, the Trust helps to drive innovation and improved care for over 1.1 million patients each year in North West London, by aligning the research, education and clinical services of the partner organisations. Visit Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust website for more information.
Background
‘NHS70: Thank You for Everything’ is a volunteer-lead project curated by rb&hArts, the Trust’s Arts Department and aiming to bring to life some of the incredible history of care at the Trust across the last 70 years.
By unearthing these stories, we celebrate the hospital’s legacy as part of the NHS and inspire creative responses to the hospital’s archives illuminating their value in social heritage. By undertaking interviews with former patients and members of staff, sharing the interviews online and commissioning an artist to respond to these archives, we will contribute to the legacy of the NHS and the Trust.
In 1998, Royal Brompton Hospital and Harefield Hospital merged to become Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust, a specialist Trust caring for NHS patients with cardiac and respiratory conditions.
Royal Brompton Hospital was known previously as the London Hospital for Consumption and Diseases of the Chest, and has a long history of providing specialist care.
Harefield Hospital began by treating injured WW1 Anzac soldiers, then patients suffering from tuberculosis, and has since become one of the most experienced heart and lung transplant hospitals in the world with pioneering surgeries and research, thanks to notable clinicians recognised globally. Care and gratitude at Harefield Hospital will focus on transplant patients and their clinicians.
rb&hArts recruited a team of volunteers to undertake archival research from 1948 onwards from Royal London Hospital Archives and other places. They found patient accounts, admin records, photographs, and interviewed staff to put them into a current context.
About rb&hArts
Website: www.rbht.nhs.uk/arts
Twitter: @rbh_arts
Delivered through Royal Brompton & Harefield Hospitals Charity, rb&hArts brings the benefits of the arts to support in and outpatients and the local communities surrounding each hospital.
rb&hArts aims to increase levels of wellbeing, enhance the patient experience and improve the healthcare environment through the arts. It first began in 2002 and now, in a typical year, it runs 250 workshops with over 5,000 people taking part. The core creative programme includes:
- Vocal Beats, a creative music-making project for inpatients (0 to 25 years old) offering bedside singing, song writing, composition, beatboxing and music tech
- Three weekly Singing for Breathing workshops for older adults living with Chronic Obstruction Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
- Two musicians in residence playing for adults, providing six hours of live music per week
- A rolling programme of temporary exhibitions art collection displays across the Trust • Crafternoons, which offer participatory arts and crafts workshops eight hours per month.
rb&hArts also manages the Trust’s Art Collection, ensuring all patients, their families and staff can enjoy art on display, and collaborates with clinical departments to deliver a high- quality environment for all.
About NHS70
Website: www.england.nhs.uk/nhs70/
The NHS is turning 70 on 5 July 2018. It’s the perfect opportunity to celebrate the achievements of one of the nation’s most loved institutions, to appreciate the vital role the service plays in our lives, and to recognise and thank the extraordinary NHS staff – the everyday heroes – who are always there to greet, advise, and care for us. We will look at the radical thinking that led to the creation of the NHS, the breakthroughs which have transformed our health and wellbeing and how the service is evolving to meet our future needs, including the wide array of opportunities being created by advances in science, technology and information. We can all play a role in supporting the NHS in this special birthday year, by volunteering, raising money for a local NHS charity, or by taking steps to look after our own health and using services wisely.
About the Heritage Lottery Fund
Website: www.hlf.org.uk
Thanks to National Lottery players, we invest money to help people across the UK explore, enjoy and protect the heritage they care about - from the archaeology under our feet to the historic parks and buildings we love, from precious memories and collections to rare wildlife.
#NationalLottery and #HLFsupported.