Our Funds

Our general fund is used to fund things that benefit multiple departments or wards. It's also there to support specific projects that individual funds cannot cover.

The general fund can be used to invest in state of the art equipment/technology, improve patient areas, support additional services and support the wellbeing of staff, among other things. The aim of the general fund is to improve the experience of those accessing hospital or community services as well as our staff who work in them.

If you are looking to provide general suuport to our charity, you can donate to our general funds. Rest assured your donation will make a huge difference to people across the Trust. 

Rise Above Cancer, provides much needed help and assistance to people affected by cancer in the region, including patients, carers and family members. The centre provides;

• A sympathetic listening service for people affected by cancer.
• Benefits and welfare rights advice delivered by dedicated professinal advisors.
• Professional counselling services for patients.
• Professional complementary therapy sessions for patients and carers.
• Look Good Feel Better sessions for patients going through treatment.
• Bandanas for hair loss sufferers.
• Use of a hydrotherapy pool.
• Dedicated pre-arranged parking bays for patients attending chemotherapy.
• Advice and support at chemotherapy sessions.
• Referral to charitable legal advice covering; employment issues, will-writing, etc...

The service relies on charitable donations to continue its vitally important work. 

The purpose built neonatal unit was opened in 2000 and is run by specialist doctors, nurses and nurse practitioners. Many of our staff have worked here much of their career, which many parents feel makes the unit like a little community during their baby’s recovery. The Unit is able to care for up to 24 babies at a time between 12 special care cots, 8 intensive/high dependency care cots, 2 mother and baby rooms and 2 isolation cubicles.

The Neonatal unit uses its charitable fund to support the improvement of services on the unit through new state of the art equipment, specialist training and better patient facilities. It has recently used charitable funds to buy two new cots for the unit, replacing older cots with ones that provide better care for the babies on the unit.  

In addition to being able to donate money to the Neonatal Unit Fund, the unit has also set up an Amazon Wish-List which lists a number of low value items which can make life a little easier for parents and babies on the unit.  To view items on the list please click here.  

The Paediatric Emergency Department fund is used to provide resources and facilities to make the department a more welcoming place for children. The fund paid for the refurbishment of the waiting area, making it a less clinical place to be. It also provides toys for use in the waiting area and on the unit to helping to provide distractions and fun activities for children visiting the department.

The fund can also be used to buy new specialist pieces of equipment that the NHS may not normally fund, improving the care given to children visiting the department.

The Trauma and Orthopaedic department provide a range of services, including the fracture clinic and plaster services, as well treating patients with soft tissue injuries. The orthopaedic fund is used to help buy new state of the art equipment that wouldn’t normally be available through the NHS. The fund is also used to improve patient areas, including the fracture clinic waiting room and treatment rooms.

Our critical care units look after patients who are seriously ill, providing high dependency or intensive care depending on the needs of the patient.  We have a 6 bed Intensive Care Unit in South Tyneside Hospital and a 16 bed unit in Sunderland Royal Hospital.

The ICCU fund is used to support the improvement of services on our units through new state of the art equipment, specialist training and better patient facilities. The fund has invested in specialist physiotherapy equipment, an interactive training dummy that allows for realistic training on the unit and LED ceiling tiles that give the impression of looking up at blue sky and clouds. 

Our Eye Infirmary is one of the leading providers of eye health care services in the UK. We are a centre of excellence, delivering outstanding ophthalmic care and research. We have a range of inpatient and outpatient services as well as our accident and emergency department.

The Eye Infirmary receives regular donations into its funds and is constantly using the donated money to improve services and facilities. The funds are regularly used to buy new equipment, improve patient areas, and replace existing equipment with more advanced technology.  

Recently the Eye Infirmary used its charitable funds to acquire a system that allows staff to view scans taken on different systems at the same time on the same screen, speeding up diagnosis and improving accuracy, previously staff would have to switch between different systems.

We also have The Vision Appeal. A charity appeal which will support the build of our new Eye Hospital in Sunderland. You can find out more here.

Haven Court is a purpose-built and innovatively designed facility which provides integrated health and social care services for our older residents, their carers and families across South Tyneside.

The state-of-the art facility brings together key health, social care and voluntary sector services, to improve the range, quality and co-ordination of care and support, especially for those with dementia, enabling  them to live independently in their community for longer.

Haven court largely uses its fund to support the provision of none clinical activities such as arts and crafts for its users, and to provide a programme of entertainment.

The Alexandra Centre provides care for our patients with dementia and delirium and an in reach/outreach service for cognitively frail in-patients. It also provides an outpatient follow up clinic for patients who have had delirium.

The centre largely uses its fund to support activities such as arts and crafts and to provide items such as nightwear for patients who come to the Sunderland Royal without anything to wear.

Sunderland Royal Hospital has a dedicated Cancer Unit and is part of the North of England Cancer Network. The Phoenix Unit is our Chemotherapy, Haematology and Infusion Day Unit providing chemotherapy services for patients in hospital, at home or in the community. Its fund supports the improvement of service through new state of the art equipment, such as cold caps to help prevent hair loss and specialist training to improve care for patients.

The Sunderland Renal Unit has been has been operating since 1970. The main unit has over 20 haemodialysis stations treating over 150 patients on a three shift pattern. On top of this we treat around 60 patients at a time from our Durham Treatment Centre and an additional 40 at Washington Primary Care Centre.

Patients visit the units regularly and spend a lot of time using our services, therefore we try to make them feel as comfortable as possible. The units charitable funds are regularly used to improve patient areas and facilities, with new furniture and entertainment systems. We also use charitable funds to invest in new more advanced treatment equipment.