Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust (ACT) is asking the public to help raise the final £10,000 of its £216,000 appeal for an emergency children’s ambulance service which will save young lives in the East of England.
Addenbrooke’s hospital is home to the East of England’s Paediatric Intensive Care Unit providing state-of-the-art care to critically ill children. But getting children to Addenbrooke’s from across the region currently relies on a children’s ambulance service from London – regular ambulances are not kitted out with the specialist equipment required to keep critically ill children alive during transfers.
This often results in long delays, which for children and families is simply unbearable.
Crucially, the current service does not transport children back to their local hospital once they are on the road to recovery. This means that children spend unnecessary time further away from home, friends and family.
Thanks to generous donors, the charity has now raised nearly enough money to fund two ambulances which will benefit over 1,700 children a year in the East of England, providing faster response times, and ensuring that children swiftly get the care and expertise that their lives depend on.
Dr Rob Heuschkel, Consultant Paediatric Gastroenterologist and CUH Clinical Director for Cambridge Children’s Hospital, said: “The East of England is the only region that hasn’t got a children’s retrieval team of their own. Being able to extend the service to all families who have children across the East of England would really transform the care that we could offer.”
Please help us hit our target and fund this service. To donate or fundraise please visit www.helpyourhospital.co.uk/ambulance.