Our news
Spring 2025
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Enhancing imaging capabilities
Imaging equipment plays a central role in modern eye care, helping detect eye diseases that may not be visible during a standard eye examination. Regular imaging also helps to track progression in chronic conditions like glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration, enabling timely interventions, often preserving vision that might otherwise be lost. It also allows for targeted treatments by determining the exact location and severity of disease.
Given its critical importance to Kingston Hospital’s Royal Eye Unit and the patients it cares for, the whole team are very thankful to all who have generously contributed to the recent purchase of three much-needed items of specialist imaging equipment.
As Lead Nurse Diane Taboda explained: “Charitable funding enabled the purchase of our first Optos Silverstone ultra-widefield retinal imaging system in 2020 and the acquisition of a second one has allowed us to double our capacity to in excess of 20,000 scans a year. This cutting-edge equipment allows for a more rapid and comprehensive acquisition of images in one multimodal imaging system, as well as a significantly better assessment of the retinal periphery when compared to conventional imaging of the rear of the eye.
“As with the Optos Silverstone, the purchase of a second Heidelberg Spectralis doubles our current scanning capacity to approximately 12,000 scans annually, while reducing waiting times for patients. The Heidelberg Spectralis is an advanced imaging platform that provides high-resolution, multimodal imaging of the retina, optic nerve and choroid.
“The Topcon slit lamp with digital camera is being utilised by both our acute referral service and the cornea clinics. This new device functions like all slit lamps but its digital camera gives the additional advantage of allowing clinicians to have digital images to compare over time when monitoring for potential malignant lesions and other chronic eye conditions. It can also be used to help explain conditions to patients in a visual, easy-to-understand way and as a teaching aid when training colleagues.
“Our ability to ensure patients are monitored in a timely and efficient manner, while ensuring they receive the right treatment when required, is dependent on having this imaging equipment in place, so we are so thankful to all who have donated towards the purchase of these three items.”
Volunteering does
Ground Force
Volunteer gardener Liz’s vision to revitalise Kingston Hospital’s outdoor spaces so they provide a welcome refuge and moments of peace for patients, visitors and staff, is coming to life this spring.
The focus has been on upgrading several key areas across the hospital site including the Staff Nursery, Main Entrance, Garden of Reflection, Memorial Tree Woodland, and the roof terrace attached to the Maxwell Thorne Haematology Day Unit.
The success of the project was made possible by Squire’s Garden Centres, who provided expert garden designs, gardening staff and generous donations of premium soil improver and discounted plants. Their involvement, together with charitable support to purchase the plants, have been instrumental in turning Liz’s vision into reality.
To keep the gardens thriving, a team of dedicated volunteers will support their ongoing care and upkeep. Their time and commitment will ensure these precious spaces continue to flourish throughout the year, so they will in time provide beautiful, restorative environments in the heart of a busy hospital.
Liz said: “Having worked around the hospital grounds over the autumn and winter, I felt so much more could be done with these beautiful spaces. Squire’s involvement provided the catalyst. With their knowledge and expertise and the enthusiasm of our volunteers, we’ve begun to create areas that may give people a moment of pleasure or a quiet place to reflect.”
"This project is a fantastic example of community, charity, and local businesses coming together to make a lasting difference, creating spaces of tranquillity and care that reflect the NHS trust’s commitment to wellbeing in every sense."
Deputy Head of Volunteering, Sharon McEwan added: “We are incredibly grateful to Kingston Hospital Charity and to Squire’s Garden Centres for helping Liz and her team of volunteers to transform some of the hospital’s outdoor spaces. We hope in time these areas will become vibrant, restorative spaces that bring comfort and calm to patients, visitors, and staff.”
Enhancing breast
cancer care
Charitable funding has enabled the acquisition of advanced technology and equipment that will improve patient outcomes and boost operational efficiency.
Cutting-edge imaging: Faxitron
Thanks to the generosity of those who supported our autumn appeal, Kingston Hospital Charity has successfully funded the purchase of a Faxitron imaging device. This technology delivers high-resolution images of excised tissue specimens directly in the operating theatre, allowing surgeons to confirm the complete removal of cancerous tissue in real time.
As Katerina Micha, Clinical Lead for Breast Surgery explained, the benefits are significant: “With Faxitron, we are able to get high-resolution images of the specimens in real time, in the operating theatre, which means we can verify complete excision faster, reduce operating times and ensure more efficient use of resources.”
On average, the Faxitron will cut operating times by up to 60 minutes per session, or approximately 25%.
Streamlining diagnostics: new mammography reporting station
To address growing demand and reduce diagnostic delays, a new mammography reporting station has been installed in the Sir William Rous Unit’s breast clinic. Equipped with two high-definition screens, the new station relieves pressure on the clinic’s existing three stations, which were in constant use and often created bottlenecks.
Located in a quieter, dedicated radiologist office, the new station is already enhancing workflow and ensuring more timely reporting of breast imaging.
Tom Hughes, consultant radiologist said: “The new reporting station has significantly improved our capacity to deliver faster and more accurate diagnoses, which will hugely benefit women undergoing breast cancer imaging and diagnostics. We are extremely grateful to Kingston Hospital Charity for their support!”
Illuminating progress: surgical headlight
Charitable support has also enabled the team to purchase a new surgical headlight. This vital tool provides surgeons with clear, focused illumination during procedures, improving visibility and enabling greater precision in complex surgeries such as mastectomies and reconstructions.
Katerina Micha, Clinical Lead for Breast Surgery, added: “Headlights in breast surgery enhance precision and visibility, allowing surgeons to navigate complex anatomical structures with greater accuracy, improving both the safety and outcomes of complex procedures.”
Our spring appeal
The emergency department at Kingston Hospital is the critical front line for a busy acute NHS hospital, providing urgent and often life-saving care to patients 24/7.
It serves as the first point of contact for individuals experiencing serious injuries, medical emergencies, or acute health crises. As a busy NHS trust, we are under significant pressure, managing increased patient volumes and a greater number with more severe conditions that require higher levels of care. We remain committed to delivering the best care we can for our patients in as efficient and timely a manner as is possible and so we need your help to acquire some key items of medical equipment.
An AutoPulse
Our current AutoPulse needs replacing with a new, lighter, more flexible and user-friendly version. This machine replaces humans during CPR in a cardiac arrest scenario. Undertaking CPR for prolonged periods of time can be exhausting and involves several members of the resuscitation team who could be helping other patients.
In some situations, resuscitation can occur for more than an hour, especially in children. Acquiring a new improved and more user friendly AutoPulse would enable it to be deployed quickly, as every second counts in a cardiac arrest, on a wider range of populations - children and bariatric patients, as well as adults in the emergency department and across the hospital.
Optiflow machine
The emergency department’s resuscitation area provides critical care using lifesaving devices like Optiflow, a high-flow nasal cannula that delivers humidified oxygen to severely oxygen-deprived patients, often as a last resort before intubation. Having Optiflow readily available improves outcomes for both adults and children, but there is only one machine, typically based in paediatrics.
We would like to acquire two Optiflow machines that are readily available for our patients, which are equipped with integrated batteries, so that those that need this crucial oxygen therapy can, when required, be delivered to wards or for a CT scan or ultrasound in the most effective and timely manner.
Vital signs monitors
Given the higher volume of patients, a further nine vital signs monitors are needed for use in our adult and paediatric emergency departments. Connected observation machines mean that when the nurse checks the patients’ vital signs, the observations are entered directly into the electronic patient record. This improves accuracy as there is no chance of transcription errors. It also makes it possible to be alerted sooner for sepsis and increases the hospital’s ability to consider innovation with AI predictive tools to enhance accurate diagnosis. As well as releasing time for nurses to care for patients because there is no administration involved, having these additional machines will also ensure patients are checked sooner than would otherwise be possible.
Preventing deconditioning
Deconditioning is the decline in physical function of the body because of physical inactivity and/or bed rest. It’s a particular problem for elderly and frail patients who are admitted to hospital leading to severe physical and cognitive decline, making recovery harder, longer and increasing the risk of complications. For these reasons, Kingston and Richmond NHS Foundation Trust is committed to preventing deconditioning in this cohort of patients.
To facilitate safe and comfortable seating, charitable monies have been utilised over the last few years to ensure sufficient specialist recliner chairs are available across Kingston Hospital’s adult wards, as well as in its emergency department, to enable these patients to sit out of bed, as this is crucial in preventing deconditioning. The latest data shows that wards are achieving 89% of medically fit patients sitting out of bed every day.
The NHS trust now wants to go further and move its focus from ‘preventing deconditioning’ to ‘encouraging reconditioning’. Initially this will be done by promoting activity and mobility by introducing eat, drink, dress, move (EDDM) activities across its unplanned wards. By integrating these elements into daily care, EDDM aims to reduce the adverse effects of prolonged inactivity during hospital stays.
The aim is to elevate the importance of preserving functional capacity and dignity of hospitalised patients by encouraging them to get up, dress in personal clothes, and move as much as possible. Encouraging patients to do more for themselves and eat well, stay hydrated, get dressed, and remain as active as possible helps maintain physical function and accelerates recovery.
Implementing EDDM involves a multidisciplinary approach where staff collaborate to create an environment that supports these activities. Research undertaken by the NHS trust shows that ward staff may undertake activities for their patients rather than enabling them to undertake the activity as independently as possible. For example, washing, cleaning their teeth, brushing hair, making a cup of tea, getting dressed in their own clothes, walking to the toilet.
With a generous grant provided by Lifetimes Chances, the NHS trust has been able to appoint Julie Padbury as the EDDM coordinator to work with the nursing teams and healthcare assistants, so that meaningful activities are embedded into the care provided to patients.
Caroline Hopper, Chief Allied Health Professional said: “I am most grateful to Lifetimes Chances for their kind support, which will enable us to promote an activity-based approach to patient care across our unplanned wards. This will help us change our culture and support us on our journey to recognise the importance of preserving and maintaining our patients’ functional abilities, at the same time as getting them better medically.”
Julie Padbury commented: “I am delighted to be involved in driving this exciting and important initiative. This project will be able to give our patients a better chance of maintaining and then promoting their independence and will have a long-lasting effect on patient wellbeing. As a health care support worker for many years, I have a wealth of knowledge and experience working in various healthcare settings. I am passionate about sharing this with our amazing staff and patients, as EDDM becomes the new normal across our unplanned wards.”
Boost for paediatric emergency training
Thanks to a generous grant, the paediatric department at Kingston Hospital is set to enhance its emergency training with the arrival of a new high-fidelity toddler simulation mannequin.
Simulation training plays a vital role in developing clinical and team working skills in a safe environment, particularly in paediatrics, where real-life emergencies are fortunately rare. The new mannequin will allow medical and nursing teams to rehearse procedures and responses with a high degree of realism, using advanced technology to replicate key scenarios.
The upgraded model includes features such as adjustable skin tone to demonstrate pallor and poor perfusion, and the ability to practise critical skills like airway management and venous access. It replaces a much-loved mannequin that had been in service for over a decade and had, as staff affectionately noted, “lost some vital parts.”
Dr Rebecca Hodgkinson, Consultant Paediatrician said: “Simulation training enables medical and nursing staff to rehearse their clinical and practical skills using technology to provide as much realism as possible. This is especially important in paediatrics, where emergencies are few and far between, and training time has become more limited.”
The mannequin will be used across paediatrics, emergency, anaesthetics, and physiotherapy teams, supporting both in-house training and multidisciplinary sessions such as Kingston Hospital’s team approach to paediatric stabilisation courses.
This investment will help staff build confidence, improve communication and deliver excellent care to children and families across the community, as and when emergencies arise.
Respiratory medicine acquires ultrasound
The Department of Respiratory Medicine is one of the busiest services at Kingston Hospital and simultaneously provides direct specialist care to patients that are acutely unwell, referred on urgent lung pathways, as well as large numbers of patients seen in routine outpatient clinics.
One of the most challenging parts of respiratory care are diseases that affect the pleura (a layer of tissue lining the lung), including pleural infection and lung cancer - both of which have traditionally been associated with prolonged admissions and poorer health outcomes. However, in recent years the care of patients with pleural disease has been greatly improved by the use of point of care ultrasound, which provides precision imaging at the bedside to better diagnose patients and guide urgent procedures.
Within the Department of Respiratory Medicine, the pleural service has established the routine use of ultrasound by doctors on the ward. Doing so has enabled them to: develop a one-stop day-case procedures clinic to avoid overnight admissions; provide critical diagnostic and therapeutic capability, so freeing up interventional radiology to focus on more complex procedures; offer dedicated training opportunities for resident doctors and allied health professionals to learn ultrasound procedures.
Respiratory medicine consultant, Dr Siva Mahendran said: “Up until now, we have had to share a single ultrasound machine with doctors across the hospital’s main inpatient building, which has caused delays in providing timely care. Acquiring this new ultrasound will enhance the quality of care for patients with lung cancer and severe infection, as well as improve the safety of ultrasound-guided thoracic procedures.
"Providing precise imaging resolution at the point of care will better diagnose patients, lead to shortened length of stays and provide new diagnostic capabilities, including development of a pleural biopsy service at Kingston Hospital. This service will help to diagnose mesothelioma and other harder to diagnose cancers."
Thank you
We would like to thank all who have taken on a fundraising challenge over the last few months, helping to make Kingston Hospital and the NHS trust a better place for patients, families and staff.
A special shout out to Andrew Pedder, Lead Orthopaedic Practitioner, who is undertaking an extraordinary year of endurance by taking on a new challenge every month throughout 2025, from marathons to triathlons.
We also want to thank those who participated in the belated Christmas Bushy 10K and 5K run, many of them NHS trust staff, raising an incredible £10,000.
We are very grateful to the Kingston Wheelers Cycle Club, as several members took on a virtual cycle challenge equivalent to the height of Mount Everest, raising nearly £3,000.
And a thank you to our remarkable runners and endurance champions:
∙ Rachel Perry & Pete Wedderburn, London Marathon
∙ Ekaterina Crawford, London Landmarks Half Marathon
∙ Harry Wells & Rachel Viale, Brighton Marathon
∙ Kate Green, Paris Marathon
∙ Debbie Christer, She ultra-marathon challenges
And finally, thank you to Nuffield Health Kingston and Snap Fitness Raynes Park/Tooting for their generous donations of Easter Eggs for our patients and staff over Easter!
Saturday 6 September 2025
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Kingston Hospital Charity is a registered
charity in England and Wales, number: 1056510
Kingston Hospital Charity,
Galsworthy Road, Kingston upon Thames,
Surrey KT2 7QB
Email: krft.charity@nhs.net
Phone: 020 8973 5040