Heatherwood Hospital 1985

New Plan To Beat Mental Breakdowns

By Sean Ryan Health Reporter
A New project launched in East Berkshire could bring help to the mentally ill and prevent some nervous breakdowns.
The organisers aim to compile a major report on Good Practices in Mental Health.
They hope many little known voluntary groups will come forward, allowing their services to be publicised and more widely used The project has been set up by Windsor and Maidenhead social services with aid from the watchdog East Berks Community Health Council.
Mental illness is Britain's biggest single disease category according to CHC secretary Juliet Mattinson.
One man in nine and one woman in six suffer psychiatric problems at some stage of their lives. The causes range from childbirth to bereavement.
Yet many victims slip through the health and social services net. often because they do not know where to turn for support.
The project organisers believe small self-help groups including young mums, the relatives of alcoholics and the lonely may be operating in obscurity to beat depression.
Health
Miss Mattinson said: "Half the object of the exercise is actually getting people together from all the different agencies.
"We don't know in numerous cases about what they do. but the end result. apart from greatly enhanced knowledge among people concerned. will be a publication including a range of projects which represent good practices."
Mrs Sonya Bailes, of Maidenhead social services. added: "Lots of people don't come into any sort of contact with social services or the health service, or avoid such organisations."
She appealed to the providers and users of mental health services which work well to attend two "spring board meetings" next month.
The first. at Slough Town Hall, on February 6, will be opened by the Mayor of Slough. Councillor Mrs Lydia Simmons.
The second. at Ascot's Heatherwood Hospital. on February 14, will be introduced by East Berks Health Authority chairman Dr Donald McWilliams. Both meetings start at 7.45pm.
Build
Schemes notified to the project organisers will be followed up by fact finders. who will compile descriptions of them for possible inclusion in the final report.
The Good Practices in Mental Health report will be available within five months to show imaginative. effective services. encourage exchanges of information and stimulate others to build on what has already been achieved.
Anyone interested in contacting the project information gatherer should call Mrs Bailes on Maidenhead 32444.
Extract Evening Post 29/01/1985

 

Gas Alert At School

Hundreds of children were evacuated from their playgrounds and kept inside classrooms as poisonous chemical gas drifted over two Bracknell schools last week.
Hydrogen sulphide caused the scare after escaping from an experiment at Ethyl Petroleum Additives in London Road only yards away from Holly Spring junior and infant schools as children aged between two and 11 enjoyed their morning playtime.
Teachers kept a close watch on the children all afternoon waiting for any signs of illness.
The policeman who discovered the source of the leak was taken to Ascot's Heatherwood Hospital complaining he was not feeling well but was later released after a check up
The incident is being played down by the company and by the school's headteachers but it has caused a storm of protest among parents of the children involved
One mother. Mrs Dawn Sadler, said "It is very worrying indeed that some thing like this can happen what is there to stop another leak?"
A resident of flats near the Ethyl factory first smelt the leak and called the police PC Philip Littlechild traced down the smell to the company who were already taking action
Both schools were informed of the hydrogen sulphide the same chemical as is used in stink bombs leak and children were brought in five minutes early from their morning playtime
Mr Alan Walker, personnel manager for Ethyl said "It is the only leak we have had in 22 years and we do not want people thinking we have another Bhopal on our hands "A small amount of hydrogen sulphide, which is a very smelly chemical, escaped because a technician did not carry out the proper safety procedures The gas can be poisonous but the amount which escaped was hundreds of times too weak to have any affect
"We have reprimanded the technician involved in the incident and taken strong measures to make sure all safety procedures are followed in the future
Headmaster of the Holly Spring Junior School Mr Edwin Wilson, said: "We all kept an eye on the children throughout the afternoon but none of them fell sick "The police told us it was only a small incident which is why parents were not informed so as to save any panic"
Actions
Mrs Vida Tracey headmistress of the Infant school said "We brought the children in five minutes early from their playtime when we were told what had happened
"None of them seemed to suffer any ill affects and we really did not think the incident was big enough to phone parents or send them a letter
"The only thing everyone is a bit concerned about was the fact that although we were told what about all the houses in the area who may have had small children playing outside the whole day? "They had no idea what happened and I think they should have been told the company. We will discuss this at the next governors meeting and see if any action should be taken
The health and safety executive are at the moment compiling a report on the incident and finding out whether any action should be taken.
Extract Ascot Times 31/01/1985

 

Foundation Hits Target

When the organisers of the British Heart Foundation in South Berkshire set out to raise £6,950 to furnish Ascot's Heatherwood Hospital with vitally needed heart equipment, their target seemed a far-fetched dream.
But not only did they reach their target, exceeded it by more than £5,000 with help from the foundation's own funds. ending up with an impressive £12.500 worth of equipment available for distribution to the hospital.
Chairman of the foundation's South Berkshire committee Mrs Billie Haig thanked supporters of this very special appeal at an official presentation at the hospital, when many of the well-wishers and donors were present to see the result of their endeavours.
The fund-raising effort is now closed, but the committee has turned its attentions to an appeal for funds to further research into heart and circulatory diseases the purpose of their original foundation in 1974.
Extract Bracknell Times 31/01/1985

 

Mental Health Project

A Revolutionary new project aimed and seeking out and publicising mental health services which are working successfully is being launched at the beginning of next month.
Called "Good Practices in Mental Health (GPMH) it is being put into gear publicly at Ascot's Heatherwood Hospital recreation hall on Thursday, February 14 at 745pm
This springboard meeting will be opened by chairman of the East Berkshire Area Health Authority. Dr. McWilliams
The scheme is a community mental health project which is practical, flexible and inexpensive. its aim being to describe and publicise not only services helping the mentally ill, but also those helping to prevent breakdown
The project, which was started by the International Hospital Federation in 1977 will be carried out by a Core Group who will do local studies and draw up a list of all the local services which do, or might in the future, qualify for inclusion in the final report
These can be anything from community support groups to services directly dealing in the treatment of the mentally ill, or family support groups.
People attending the springboard meetings will be asked to tell of any scheme they know which they believe is working well in the mental health field A selection of these will then be investigated and written up in an East Berkshire GPMH publication due to come out at the end of the summer.
Extract Bracknell Times 07/02/1985

 

'Thank you for the toys'

Two nurses from Ascot's Heatherwood Hospital visited the Toy Factory in Bracknell's Princess Square last weekend to thank the manager for toys he had donated to the children's ward. The shop had donated hundreds of pounds worth of toys to the children's ward which is always short of new games and entertainment for the youngsters. Ascot's Nursery Nurse, Tina Hayes, and staff nurse Beverley Chiles right were on hand to thank the Toy Factory manager Mr Melvyn Papworth. Nurse Chiles said: "We really do appreciate this sort of gift because the hospital is always short of toys, especially new ones. "We are very pleased to get all these toys and everyone is very grateful to the Toy Factory for their gift." Mr Papworth said: "There are so many charities in the town we decided to concentrate on just one and give them a big gift.
Extract Bracknell Times 14/02/1985

Comment:- The above article was accompanied by a photo.
The photo showed Ascot's Nursery Nurse, Tina Hayes, and staff nurse Beverley Chiles receiving the toys from Toy Factory manager Mr Melvyn Papworth.
Copyright prevents us from displaying the photo here.

 

Fund Raisers Need Help

The father of a young Bracknell girl who died tragically last year is appealing for volunteers to raise money for a fund in her memory which will go to help children in Ascot's Heatherwood Hospital.
Mr John Law's daughter. Samantha, died of cystic fibrosis in March 1984. the day before her sixteenth birthday.
Mr Laws. of Toll Gardens, Bullbrook, said: "Samantha made frequent visits to the hospital while she was ill. and she was always concerned to help the other children, particularly in the baby unit.
Help
"While she was staying in the hospital, she went round selling raffle tickets to raise money for the children's ward."
The Samantha Laws Memorial Fund was set up after her death to continue Samantha's fund-raising work for the hospital.
Mr Laws said: "The money from the fund is intended to be used to help all sick children in the Bracknell, and Ascot areas.
We heard that the hospital needs money at the moment to refurbish the sick children's ward number two, so we would like to help with that "The estimated cost is £100.000, which is quite a lot of money.
We do have a committee of seven organising the fund raising at the moment, but we need more people to help. That is why we are appealing for volunteers."
The money raised will also go to help the special care unit for sick children at the hospital.
Anyone who would like to help should contact Mr Laws on Bracknell 425149.
Extract Bracknell Times 28/02/1985

 

Plan Will Ruin Green Belt Land, Say Objectors

A Berkshire parish council is opposing plans for a major new polo centre on some of its green belt land.
Nine houses and 50 stables would be included in the development at Coworth Park, Sunningdale, along with grooms' accommodation and storage units.
But the village's parish councillors say the complex could become a mini housing estate that will ruin a rural site and have objected to Windsor and Maidenhead planners.
They say the planned polo centre to be built by Dorking firm Martin Grant Homes Ltd goes beyond the rule that allows some development of leisure facilities on protected land.
Councillor Norman Rolfe said: "We are opposing it very strongly. It will have a serious impact on greenbelt land.
"What they are proposing really is a small estate of four bedroomed detached houses." He said the council would have preferred proposals put forward by the company when it applied for outline permission for the centre earlier last year which included accommodation above the stables and not separate houses.
Mr Rolfe said he feared they could be sold off and become separate from the centre.
He said: "There is talk of a legal agreement saying they can't be sold off but what is to stop them building the houses and then saying they haven't got enough money for the rest of it."
Mr Rolfe added: "If Heatherwood Hospital can't get a nursing home on green belt land then why should we have a housing development?"
Martin Grant Homes was unavailable for comment.
Extract Evening Post 01/03/1985

 

Hospital Blaze

Firemen from Bracknell and Ascot raced to the scene of a boiler room blaze at Heatherwood Hospital last week.
The three engines were faced with a small fire which devoured three square feet of plywood where contractors were working in the boiler house area.
No patients were evacuated from the premises as the area was well away from residential parts of the hospital and the fire, which was extinguished in a few minutes, was under control.
Extract Bracknell & Wokingham Times 07/03/1985

 

Landlords Organise a Charity Jump

Regulars at a Berkshire pub got more than they bargained for when they welcomed their new landlord. For the man behind the bar at The Bull, Bracknell, Peter Neave, turned out to be a paratrooper ready to get his customers jumping from the sky for charity.
Now Peter and fellow Bracknell licensee Ken Redwood from the Red Lion pub have organised a bumper, leap with more than 60 regulars from the two pubs.
They hope to raise more than £5,000 for the Heatherwood Hospital baby unit.
So many customers are taking part the jump will be over two weekends next month.
Peter, who was in the paratroopers for three years, said: "It is something you don't forget once you have learned.
People in the pub kept saying they would like to have a go and a friend of mine works for the baby unit and said it was short of equipment."
Both landlords are doing the jump.
Ken said: "I think we will be collecting a lot of money from the looks of things." He said the pair were trying to get local firms to sponsor the jump and the Alder Valley Bus Company had promised a coach to take the brave parachutists to Hampshire for the jump.
Extract Evening Post 11/03/1985

 

Charity Match

A Pages East Berks League XI play a John Wood Sunday League XI in a representative charity match at Maidenhead United FC on Wednesday, March 27 (7.30pm).
Proceeds from the game will go towards the special baby unit at Heatherwood Hospital in Ascot
Extract Evening Post 18/03/1985

 

Workmen Burned By Gas Fireball

By Shirley Pallot
Five people were taken to hospital after a gas explosion at a workmen's hut in Berkshire today.
A build-up of gas exploded in a ball of flame in the faces of two of the men when they arrived for work.
Opened
They were rushed to Ascot's Heatherwood Hospital with burns. along with three colleagues who were treated for shock
The men were working on a drainage project for the firm T.Trant Ltd at a site in Hatchet Lane, Winkfield.
company spokesman said the extent of the men's injuries was not yet known and said the firm was still trying to contact relatives.
Bracknell Fire Brigade was called to the scene of the explosion, which happened just before 8am as the men opened the door of the small temporary cabin they use on the site.
A fire brigade spokesman said the hut had calor gas heating and cooking facilities.
It is thought either the heater or the cooking rings were left on overnight.
There was a build-up of gas in the hut which exploded when the workmen opened up this morning
The spokesman said: "It just went woof! There was a flashover like a big ball of flame which was all over in a matter of seconds. A couple of the men received burns to their faces and there was a little bit of damage inside the hut."
Extract Evening Post 20/03/1985

 

Blast Man Recovering

One of the workmen injured in yesterday's gas explosion near Bracknell was still recovering in hospital today.
Mr Gary Colger, from Carterton in Oxfordshire, was rushed to Ascot's Heatherwood Hospital with burns to his hands after the freak accident which occurred at a workmen's hut in Winkfield.
He and another workman, Thomas Kelliher, were burned when gas which had built up overnight exploded in a ball of fire and swept through the hut.
Both men were transferred to the Mount Vernon Hospital in Middlesex yesterday.
Mr Kelliher has now been discharged and a hospital spokesman described Mr Colger's condition as "satisfactory".
Extract Evening Post 21/03/1985

 

Hospital Staff Hit by Flu Bug

Hospitals are being thrown into disarray as dozens of staff are laid low by a flu bug.
Last week Basingstoke Hospital was closed to all but emergency admissions as 48 nurses went down with flu, and now Newbury District Hospital is closing it's casualty department at night.
With ten nurses off sick, casualty is having to be shut from 8pm-8am and all emergencies sent to the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading
Newbury administrator Gareth Cruddace said: "Because we are a small unit it has a marked effect on us.
We don't normally have this level of sickness all at one time.
Paul Bayliss, administrator at Basingstoke General said: "Last week we had 48 off and we are now down to around 25."
At Heatherwood Hospital near Ascot, a spokesman said: "We are being affected by it in that we are having higher than normal levels of people off sick."
Extract Evening Post 26/03/1985

 

Leagues Clash

A representative match between the Pages East Berks League and the John Wood Bracknell Sunday League takes place tomorrow night at Maidenhead United FC (7.30pm).
Proceeds will go towards a special baby care unit at Heatherwood Hospital, Ascot.
Extract Evening Post 26/03/1985

 

Girls Tell Of Ordeal

Two Berkshire girls talked today from their hospital beds about how they came down to earth with a bump when a parachute jump in aid of another hospital went wrong.
Julie Prescott, aged 20, pictured left, of Bracknell, and Debbie Ponsford, aged 18, of Sunningdale, both landed badly in their charity plunges in aid of Heatherwood Hospital, Ascot. Speaking in the Royal County Hospital, Winchester, Julie said: "We only had one day's training for the jump, and it's a bit different when you're actually up there in the sky."
Both girls have broken ankles and Debbie also broke a leg
She said: "I suppose it is a bit ironic that we made the jump on behalf of one hospital and ended up in another one.
"My mum said: 'I told you so.
The girls were among 30 staff and customers of Bracknell pubs who made the jump. But both vowed today that they will never do it again.
Extract Evening Post 27/03/1985

Comment:- The above article was accompanied by a photo.
The photo of Julie Prescott, aged 20, pictured left, of Bracknell, and Debbie Ponsford, aged 18, of Sunningdale lying in her hospital bed.
Copyright prevents us from displaying the photo here.

 

Hospital in Cash Bid to Fight Cancer

By Andrew Hawken A major fund-raising project to fight cancer has been launched at a Berkshire hospital.
Charity workers are hoping to raise £25,000 before the end of the year to provide Ascot's Heatherwood Hospital with a surgical laser.
The laser is a big step forward in the battle with cervical cancer which kills 2,000 women a year in Britain and enables doctors to destroy pre-malignant tissue in the neck of the womb and the cervix.
The treatment now means up to a five-day stay in hospital for many but with the new laser the same operation can be over in 30 minutes.
The project is being run by the Charitable Association Supplying Hospitals which is asking women all over East Berkshire to raise money for the laser.
A trustee of CASH, Mrs Christine Callund, said: "If we had 50 groups all trying to raise the money then we could have a laser in no time at all.
Project
"It is a big step forward in the treatment of cervical cancer and the hospital needs the laser as soon as possible.
Consultants have been telling us the laser would be of great benefit and so we decided to make it our first priority.
"We try to raise the money for fairly advanced equipment which the National Health Service cannot afford to buy."
A number of local companies are interested in the project and CASH hope they will be contributing to the funds.
Among the fund-raising events planned are a sponsored planting of daffodil bulbs at the hospital and a Fly for Laser day, with trips in a light aircraft at White Waltham airfield.
Extract Evening Post 04/04/1985

 

Hospital Appeals for Cancer Test Aid

A campaign has been started to provide some revolutionary new equipment for Ascot's Heatherwood hospital
which will help women suspected to be suffering from cervical cancer. Plans are afoot to buy the hospital a surgical laser which will enable doctors' to treat women quickly and safely as outpatients if their cervical smear tests turn out to be abnormal.
At present, women whose. tissue at the neck of the womb and cervix shows a potentially dangerous change have to spend several days in hospital undergoing treatment to remove the tissue and thus prevent cancer developing.
Consultant gynaecologist at Heatherwood Mr Stanley Simmons explained: "The laser destroys by vaporisation tissue which is potentially malignant.
Cost
"There is no bleeding or scarring involved, and the patient does not even need a general anaesthetic. It can all be done very smoothly and quickly in the out-patients department and the woman can return home afterwards.
"I have wanted one of these for.years, but they are expensive to buy and that is. why we are appealing to the public for help."
The new laser is estimated to cost about £25,000, and if a teaching programme is included as well the cost could be as high as £30,000. But doctors at Heatherwood are convinced that the laser, which would be used for the whole of the East Berkshire district, would be of long-term benefit to the community and would even save money since the beds normally taken up by women having treatment for pre-malignant conditions of the cervix would be free for other patients.
The laser would be the first of its kind in this area. although they have been used for some years in America and are also in use in other parts of Britain.
Doctors are being helped in their fight to provide the laser by CASH. the Charitable Association Supplying Hospitals
CASH trustee Mrs Christine Callund explained that the group were organising a series of events to help raise the money.
Mrs Callund said: "We are having a Fly for Laser Day at White Waltham with the Aero Club on June 23, and on October 6 we will be having a sponsored daffodil plant at Heatherwood. "We are also appealing to individual women and to women's organisations to help us raise the money, and we are hoping that local businesses will help as well."
Extract Bracknell & Ascot Times 11/04/1985

 

Eye Clinic Hope

Plans are in hand to re-open the eye clinic at Ascot's Heatherwood Hospital, which will make life easier for Bracknell out-patients who currently have to travel to Windsor for treatment.
The eye clinic was closed in February because the consultant who took it could no longer fit it in with other engagements on the same day, and now hospital administrators say they are trying to find an alternative arrangement which will enable the clinic to open on a different day.
The East Berkshire Community Health Council has been exerting pressure to have the clinic re-opened ever since it closed.
The Community Health Council's secretary, Miss Juliet Mattinson, said: "We have written to the District Health Authority asking for the eye clinic to be reinstated, and we are continuing to press for it.
Heatherwood is basically a district general hospital and I think eye treatment is a service which has to be provided there.
"I do not think it is reasonable to make people travel to Windsor as out-patients when they could receive treatment nearer at hand in Heatherwood."
Mr Michael Warren, deputy administrator at Heatherwood, said that there had been problems regarding finding the necessary space for the clinic on a day which would suit the consultant.
He said: "We are now trying to get the clinic re-opened as soon as possible."
Extract Ascot Times 25/04/1985

 

Woodlands' five

Woodlands Park Royal British Legion provide five of the 16 players in Pages East Berks League's squad that faces the John Wood Sports Bracknell Sunday League in a charity match at Maidenhead United FC on Monday.
Proceeds go towards a special baby care unit at Heatherwood Hospital,Ascot.
Extract Evening Post 07/05/1985

 

Boys' Gift to Hospital

Two enterprising schoolboys from Bracknell's Garth Hill School have made life easier for families who attend Heatherwood hospital's accident and emergency department.
The boys, Michael Seward and Simon Walker, made a book and toy cabinet as part of their examination work at school and the Ascot Ladies Circle paid for the materials.
Bracknell Pre-school Playgroups Association have made a commitment to provide the books and toys for the cabinet, and a number of local playgroups have been raising funds for the venture.
Sheila Smith, day care adviser for the under-fives in Bracknell, said: "I regard this project as a good example of community co-operation."
Extract Ascot & Bracknell Times 30/05/1985

 

'Old Codgers' Say Thanks

The following is a copy of a letter sent to Mr Swan, consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Heatherwood Hospital which we have been asked to publish.
Will you allow us, Ted (87) and Reg Noakes (84) who were landed on your plate in a very distressed condition suddenly on April 10, after a car accident, to express our grateful thanks and appreciation for the treatment we received from you and your wonderful staff. Apart from a certain amount of pain, we might almost say that we enjoyed the miraculously short time we stayed with you!
One of the other octogenarians, on leaving, (to identify him, he had lost his big toe!), said, almost pathetically, "we shall miss being with each other when we get home."
This I think was the highest of praise for the treatment we had all received.
I do not expect you to answer this letter but because there has recently been so much adverse criticism of the Health Service, I am sending a copy of this letter to the editor of the local newspaper in the hope that he may see fit to publish the grateful thanks and appreciation of a couple of old codgers!
Ted and Reg Noakes, The Barn Cottage, Dean,Nr. Charlbury,Oxford.
Extract Bracknell Times 30/05/1985

 

MP On the Rails

The crowds came steaming in to Ascot on Saturday for the Heatherwood Hospital Fete, and one of the first there was East Berks MP Mr Andrew MacKay who performed the opening ceremony
As the weather held out, more and more people came in to complete the most successful fete yet at the hospital and raise hundreds of pounds towards the cost of replacing old beds.
Crowds flock to fete(page 5 article)
Ascot'S Heatherwood Hospital annual fete was bigger and better than ever this year and the hard work paid off with more people than ever before coming through the gates to watch and take part.
Following the opening by East Berks MP Mr Andrew MacKay the fete started to go with a swing and valuable cash was raised for the hospital radio and for the replacement of old beds a task being worked towards by the League of Friends.
Heatherwood's deputy administrator, Mr Mike Warren, said: "It was better attended than in previous years in spite of the dodgy weather and there were representatives from lots of community organisations.
"The fete is no longer just for the hospital itself but has also become a community occasion, which is of course very good news for everyone. "All the money raised will go towards the replacement of beds and also to keep Radio Heatherwood in operation."
The hundreds of people who made up the crowd were entertained by the huge assortment of side shows as well as music from a brass band, pony and train rides.
Chairman of the League of Friends Mr Ron Mason, said: "We raised just over £1,500 which was about average but very pleasing, and it certainly was a very good day out for everyone."
Extract Bracknell Times 13/06/1985

Comment:- The above articles were accompanied by five photos.
The first showed Mr Mackay and his daughter Georgina, and Joe Mitchener.
The second showed Nurses Jackie Morley and Lin Gale with a challenge.
The third showed Elizabeth Slade on the hoopla.
The fourth showed on target Danny Hole.
The fifth showed Charlotte Fielder.
Copyright prevents us from displaying the photos here.

 

Staff Jump to Raise Money

Employees at Clifford's Dairies are jumping for joy at the fundraiser recently put on for Ascot's Heatherwood Hospital.
The staff were flying high as they held a parachute jump to raise money to upgrade the hospital's baby care unit.
Each participant in the event got sponsors to give him money for jumping out of a plane.
The employees raised £1,651, which will go towards an appeal for £40,000 to upgrade the unit.
Extract Bracknell Times 27/06/1985

Comment:- The above article was accompanied by a photo.
Pictured at the presentation are:
Sister Catherine Farr, Mr Mike Warren, deputy hospital administrator and Mr Ron Lewington of Clifford's
Copyright prevents us from displaying the photo here.

 

Hiking Hockey Club

The Bracknell Hockey Club put away their sticks and took to the hills recently for a 22 mile charity walk.
The walk, which began at Offington Castle on White Horse Hill, is a part of the hockey club's fundraising programme to put up a new clubhouse at Birch Hill, Forty members and friends of the club took part in the event.
Club member Steve Lovejoy lead the pack as the race began, although Jan Jalovy and Bob Baker took an early lead and were the first to finish.
As the day went by, Len Bennelick and David Mihell of Bracknell provided much needed first aid for the blistered feet and sunburnt shoulders of the walkers, and Nigel King made sure all went smoothly.
The club offers a special thanks also to Chris Towilis who ran the 22 mile course early in the morning to leave notes of direction and I encouragement along the way for the walkers.
Besides going toward the clubhouse, a substantial portion of the funds raised by the walk will go toward the renovation of the 13 year-old baby care unit at Ascot's Heatherwood Hospital.
Extract Bracknell Times 27/06/1985

 

Hospital campaign

Ascot's Heatherwood hospital has mounted a retrieval campaign to round up missing walking aids and wheelchairs which are proving costly to replace.
In the last three months eight wheelchairs worth a total of £1,260 have gone missing from the hospital.
Administrators are appealing for the return of chairs, crutches, walking sticks, frames and other equipment.
These aids are lent to patients who need help with mobility while they rehabilitate at home but often the recall system fails and the items are never returned to the hospital.
The loss is a major headache for staff who have to find funds to buy replacements.
They are on the lookout for any surplus aids people may have in their homes which can be collected to boost the hospital's dwindling stock.
Anyone who can help should contact the hospital on Ascot 23333, extension 65.
Extract Bracknell Times 27/06/1985

 

Cash Aid for Baby Unit

Health bosses have raised £44,000 to improve a special baby care unit at a Berkshire hospital.
The unit at Heatherwood Hospital, Ascot, had become cramped and crowded and was using outdated equipment.
The money, raised through private donations, will be used to upgrade the unit.
General manager of East Berkshire Health Authority. David Treloar, told yesterday's meeting: "The unit had been overtaken by developments. It was overcrowded, tight on space and encumbered by equipment and apparatus.
This scheme will make better use of the unit." Chairman Dr Donald McWilliams said: "We should support the plan.
It is proper to encourage the improvement of the unit."
Extract Evening Post 18/07/1985

 

Miracle Boy,Remarkable Recovery for Gareth

A very special birthday party took place in Bracknell this week for a toddler whom medical experts almost gave up on at birth.
Little Gareth Blackwell, of Nuthurst in Crown Wood, was born a year ago in Ascot's Heatherwood Hospital with genetic abnormalities which stunned the doctors all his vital organs were on the wrong side and his heart was severely malformed, causing him to have great difficulties with his oxygen supply.
But, thanks to a miracle operation at the special care baby unit in London's Hammersmith Hospital, Gareth pulled through and was able to celebrate, with Mum Julie and Dad John, both 24, the first birthday on Sunday which doctors originally thought he would never see.
Mrs Blackwell said: "He looks so fit and healthy now, but we went through a very. difficult time with him after his birth.
I was just about to leave Heatherwood Hospital to bring him home when doctors saw there was something wrong with him.
Surgery
"When they realised how bad it was they said they could do nothing for him, and we were sent to Hammersmith. We felt shattered, and at first the Hammersmith specialists did not know if they could do anything either."
But baby Gareth proved to be such a fighter and responded so well to his fresh supply of oxygen from a drip that doctors came to believe he could survive with his unusual condition, if urgent heart surgery succeeded.
Gareth underwent the life saving operation to bring oxygen into his heart from his lungs by means of a special plastic tube at the age of only 14 days. He pulled through and has not looked back since.
Fine
His mother said: "As soon as they told us there was a chance the operation might work, I thought he would pull through.
The specialists were really fantastic at Hammersmith, and Gareth is now fine. They told us he might get a bit puffed out and tired, but he does not seem to get breathless now."
Mrs Blackwell takes Gareth for regular check ups at Heatherwood and Wexham Park hospitals, but the baby is growing well and is bouncing with health, so no more medical problems are anticipated for him.
Gareth's two-year-old sister Donna joined in the family celebrations on Sunday, which were attended by the children's grandparents and great grandparents.
Extract Ascot & Bracknell Times 01/08/1985

 

Hospital Row As Mum is Evicted

By Andrew Hawken
An unmarried mum and her five month old baby boy were evicted today from a nurses' home.
Anita Denina, aged 41, and her baby David. left Heatherwood House at Ascot's Heatherwood Hospital after a visit from a county court officer with an eviction order.
The eviction left Anita with nowhere to stay tonight. Anita, who has been in the room since 1974 when she began work at Heatherwood Hospital, watched helplessly as her belongings were carried from the room. Holding back the tears. she said: "I don't know what I am going to do or where I am going to stay.
Diabolical
"I find it hard to say any thing to express how I feel. This is just terrible, and I don't know where I am going to stay tonight."
Anita, accompanied by secretary of the East Berks Joint Trade Union Committee, was due to see Windsor and Maidenhead Council this afternoon.
She works as a domestic in the hospital's maternity unit but is on maternity leave.
John McDougall,chairman of the Heatherwood branch of GMBATU which represents all the domestics, said: "This is diabolical and should not have happened like this. We think that the council have been insensitive and when they were told about the eviction should have provided other accommodation.
"It is disgraceful to put this woman and her baby through this".
Anita was told after she had the baby that she would have to find other accommodation.
But she said that on her £70-a-week wage she had not been able to find anywhere.
Keith Stout, secretary of East Berks JTUC said: "1 thought this was supposed to be a caring health service but it obviously isn't".
Extract Evening Post 08/08/1985

 

Call to Give Evicted Mother a Home

By Andrew Hawken
A union leader is calling for a Berkshire mum and her five month old baby evicted yesterday from a nurses' home to be re-housed by the health authority.
Anita Denina, a domestic worker on maternity leave at Heatherwood Hospital. Ascot, was forced to leave her accommodation because it was said to be unsuitable for a child.
But the 41-year-old mum and her baby David are now being forced to live in temporary B&B accommodation in Windsor, several miles from Ascot.
And for her new attic room she is having to pay nearly twice the rent she was paying before, from her £70 a week wage
Anita has lived in a room in Heatherwood House since 1974 when she started work as a domestic cleaner.
But yesterday morning county court officer evicted her from her accommodation.
Health bosses say Anita was evicted because the room was not suitable for her and a baby, and they have no further accommodation for her to stay in.
Empty
But Mr Keith Stout, secretary of the joint trade union committee for East Berkshire, said the attic room, which is up three flights of stairs, and has no cooking facilities, is not suitable accommodation for her either.
He said: "The East Berkshire District Health Authority has accommodation in South Ascot which is lying empty. It is suitable to house Anita and her baby and would enable her to return to work once her maternity leave is over.
Entitled
"The accommodation in Windsor is not suitable for her and the baby and she should not be forced to stay there.
"The decision to evict Miss Denina should be overturned and the health authority should find her other accommodation.
"The authority has ignored its responsibility towards a woman who has served them well over the last 10 years." Mr Stout added that if Miss Denina was not moved nearer to the hospital then she would not return to her job at the end of her maternity leave next month because it would be too far to travel.
Deputy unit administrator at Heatherwood Michael Warren, said today the accommodation in South Ascot was for married medical staff and a domestic worker would not be entitled to be re-housed there.
He said the hospital was not reconsidering its decision to evict the mum and her baby.
Mr Warren said: "We have not had any representations from the trade unions and at the moment we are not reconsidering the decision.
"All our staff have a requirement to get themselves to work and we do not normally provide special transport".
Extract Evening Post 09/08/1985

 

Doctor to Aid Sudan Refugees

A young doctor is leaving the comfort of his Berkshire surgery for a tough job in an Eastern Sudan refugee camp. Bachelor Chris Strang will be caring for Ethiopians who have fled the worst drought-hit and war torn zones.
And he admits his six months' work for the Save the Children Fund will be totally different from wealthy South Ascot where he lives.
Dr Strang, aged 28, of Victoria Road, sets off on Monday for the challenging trip. All he knows now is that he will be working in one of the refugee camps looking after children aged under five.
"I have no idea what to expect," he says. "There is a need for qualified doctors from the West the situation is so atrocious out there."
Dr Strang, who worked at Ascot's Heatherwood Hospital before joining a local practice, says needs are changing all the time. At one camp. Wad Kolli, there have been up to 90,000 people. "At the moment it is raining out there and there will be some movement out," he explained.
Many people are going back to Ethiopia in the hope of planting some crops with the onset of the rains. But the weather has brought terrible transport problems with impassable roads.
Dr Strang's job is to try and get the starving children healthy again and teach their parents about hygiene and feeding.
He is training to become a GP and has got a psychiatry job lined up at Wexham Park Hospital when he returns.
But during the next month he plans to keep a diary about his experiences involved in life-saving work on a huge scale.
Extract Evening Post 13/08/1985

 

Health chiefs hit back on ants charge

Health chiefs have reacted angrily to a call for a Berkshire hospital to be shut down over a claim it is infested with disease carrying ants.
A pest control expert claims Ascot's Heatherwood Hospital is a health risk and that five other hospitals in East Berkshire have serious pest problems But this is denied by the health authority and the cur rent pest control contractor who say there is not a serious problem Ron Brind of Pest Control Services and Equipment, tendered unsuccessfully for the contract for East and West Berkshire and last December visited all hospitals in the area
Mr Brind. whose company is based in Oxford and has the contract for the Oxfordshire hospitals. said: "The problem of Pharoah's Ants in Heatherwood Hospital is so severe that the hospital should be shut down.
When I visited the hospital there were ants every where in the corridors and in the wards. It is the worse case I have ever seen in a hospital
Pharoah's Ants are a bigger risk to health than cockroaches because they get everywhere and they carry salmonella bacteria which causes food poisoning. Using modern methods the problem in the hospital can be solved but I think to do so the hospital would have to be shut down."
Mr Brind came forward following the publication of a survey which revealed many nurses thought hospitals were unclean and a health hazard
Pharoah's Ants are cap able of carrying many organisms and scientists say they can cause illnesses such as scarlet fever
But deputy administrator of the East Berkshire Health Authority Brian Mackness said The authority employs a reputable contractor to look after the problem of pests in hospitals The contractor makes regular checks and is approved by the Department of Health There are always problems in hospitals with pests often because of the temperature they are maintained at but there is no risk to the patients of Heatherwood and the hospital does not need to be shut down."
Paul Hampson, director of C Baxter and Sons, which has the contract for pest control in East Berkshire hospitals, also denied there was a problem.
Extract Evening Post 05/09/1985

 

Coma PC Out of Hospital

The young policeman who was hit by a car and left in a coma by a Berkshire roadside has been discharged from hospital.
PC Tony Bates, aged 20, of Bracknell police, left Ascot's Heatherwood Hospital late yesterday after a stay of almost nine weeks.
He has returned with his family to their home near Ipswich in Suffolk
Extract Evening Post 26/09/1985

 

Hospital Kitchen Health Risk Fear

Kitchens at Berkshire hospital fell below required standards in a council clean food campaign.
Now union leaders are worried that the 60 year old kitchens at Ascot's Heatherwood Hospital could pose a health risk
The hospital entered the Clean Food Campaign run by Windsor and Maidenhead District Council Around 1.000 premises enter the campaign and after visits by environmental health officers about 200 certificates of merit are awarded.
The hospital's kitchens did not meet the standards set to win an award
Worried
Unit administrator lan Orger said There were a few tiles missing and the structure of the building was not adequate enough to win an award "But I don't believe this is a threat to health.
The standards of the staff are improving all the time but it is the structure of the building which is not satisfactory and that is not surprising considering the age of the kitchens."
John McDougall, branch chairman of the General and Municipal Workers Union at the hospital is worried by the kitchen's failure to meet standards He blamed the system of Crown Immunity which protects a hospital from prosecution and litigation.
He said "I am waiting for a report from the management to see exactly what was wrong.
The certificates were award in March but I found out about it only last week The fact the hospital is falling below standards does worry me and that is because they are hiding behind Crown immunity.
lan Keys. Thames Valley organiser for the GMBATU said "Health service treasurers admit that Crown immunity allows them to defer spending money on essential maintenance and kitchen improvements."
Extract Evening Post 08/10/1985

 

Gift to Hospital

Patients at Ascot's Heatherwood Hospital could be set on the road to recovery a little quicker following the presentation of a special bed recently.
Members of Bracknell based British Aerospace's Heatherwood Hospital Committee took just two quick collections to raise the £400 for the "King's Fund" bedstead which will enable patients to lie back or sit.
Its big advantage is that it has complete steering mobility and can be operated by just one nurse. This is the first time money raised has given patients medical equipment in the past 25 years of the company's collecting, items such as televisions and electric shavers have been provided for patients.
Now, in view of cutbacks in the National Health Service, the committee has turned its attention to raising money for necessary medical equipment.

Extract Bracknell Times 17/10/1985

Comment:- The above article was accompanied by a photo.
Pictured were (from the left) Maureen Callaway, Ken Watkins, June Higginson, Karen Hazell and hospital administrator Ian Orger.
Copyright prevents us from displaying the photo here.

 

Joint Meeting

of East Berkshire community health council & East Berkshire health authority & Berkshire family practitioner committee
Tuesday, November 5 7.30pm
Recreation Hall Heatherwood Hospital Ascot
Enquiries: Slough 20357
Extract Evening Post 01/11/1985

 

Please Give Us A Hospital Say Residents

Residents Beg For Better Health Care
By Sean Poulter
Bracknell residents are begging for more medical facilities say health watchdogs.
The plea to give the fast growing town priority for a community hospital came at a joint meeting of medical authorities at Ascot's Heatherwood Hospital.
Community Health Council representative Mrs Jean Cassons told East Berkshire district health chiefs:
"There is a terrible feeling that we in Bracknell are the forgotten people. "We do see an awful lot of money being spent in the north and central parts of the district. We have been begging for more facilities, please do remember us." Colleague Mrs Jean Edwards added: "Bracknell is a fast-growing area and people are extremely unhappy about the fact that there is no hospital."
Dr Donald McWilliams, district chairman, said, officially, a community hospital would not be built for another ten years, "but we are as unhappy about that as you clearly are."
Reviewed
At the end of this year services in Bracknell were being reviewed and it was possible Church Hill House, now used as a home for the mentally handicapped, or its site, could be developed. "That could substantially reduce the time before we have a community hospital. That is the best I can offer," he said.
East Berkshire general manager David Treloar, warned that to find the money for Bracknell, services elsewhere would have to be reduced.
Extract Evening Post 07/11/1985 & Bracknell Times 14/11/1985

 

A New Life

The prospect of having a child in hospital over Christmas can be daunting for parents and all the more so if that child happens to be a newly born baby who is experiencing problems.
But at Heatherwood Hospital in Ascot, doctors and nurses are pleased to announce that this Christmas the babies in their special care unit will be getting the best possible care in the most modern and up-to-date facilities the hospital has yet had for the treatment of small children and it is all thanks to the generosity of the local public.
The new special care baby unit at the hospital has opened just in time for Christmas, and to thank the people who raised the money to pay for it, Heatherwood staff threw a party for them.
Hospital administrator Ian Orger explained: "It is 18 months since we started the appeal to raise money for the up-dating of our special care baby unit, and we are delighted with the results.
"We have been able to up-grade the unit due to the efforts of all sorts of people who have rallied round to help, and we are extremely grateful to them."
When the appeal started, hospital staff were asking for £30,000, but with rising costs the eventual expenditure on the unit has been over £40,000.
Mr Orger said: "Fortunately the public raised far more than we had hoped for, and we have had about £43,000, which is what the unit has cost.
We were able to start work on it as soon as we had the promise of the money. and now it is finished at last."
The staff of the baby unit had to move out into another ward in July, while the modernisation work got underway, but now they are happily re-installing themselves back in their up-dated building
Sister Yvonne Shorthouse said: "We are very pleased with the end results.
The main difference for us is that we have a lot more space to work in. Other improvements too have made life easier for us. For example we now have piped oxygen for the babies instead of having to carry heavy cylinders around, and we have more electric power points as well."
Mr Orger said that the money raised had also been used to buy foetal heart monitors and ventilators to help the babies breathe.
For the mothers whose babies are being helped by the unit, the new equipment and facilities are proving invaluable.
Mrs Chieko Andrews, from Hanworth in Bracknell, had a four-week-old son, James, in an incubator in the special care unit and was facing the prospect of him still being there at Christmas.
She was not too down-hearted however, as she said: "James was premature and has kidney problems, so I do not know when I will be able to take him home.
However, I am sure he is in good hands." The special care baby unit has helped thousands of infants since it opened in 1972, and staff are hoping it will be able to help many more.
Even as she spoke, Sister Shorthouse was waiting for the call which would tell her that a new premature, 32 week child had been delivered.
She said: "When the baby is born, it may need ventilation, so we have all the equipment ready for use as soon as it is needed."
Now that the baby unit is fully operational, hospital staff are looking for other targets the public can help them to meet.
Mr Orger explained that public generosity in raising money for the hospital is a vital lifeline in today's economic climate.
He said: "For the foreseeable future we are going to have to call on public-spirited people to help make their local hospital the best in the vicinity.
The next target for the hospital is the upgrading of the paediatric ward, but this will cost much more than the baby unit.
"It will probably cost somewhere in the region of £200,000, but we are hoping that if the public can raise some, then the Health Authority will contribute."
Fund-raising can be difficult and tiring work, but there was no doubt in the minds of mothers like Mrs Andrews that the end results at Heatherwood are well worth while.
Extract Bracknell Times 26/12/1985

Comment:- The above article was accompanied by a photo.
The photo captioned: Mrs Andrews Keeps a close check on her baby James
Copyright prevents us from displaying the photos here.