In the summer 2020, NHS England announced that Bedford Hospital would receive Covid-19 funding of £3.1M to update and extend the Accident & Emergency (A&E) Department . The Charity has been invited to enhance this provision by creating a brand new dedicated Paediatric A&E department and providing a CT scanner to be situated in the A&E department for shared use by both emergency and general hospital patients.

We have jumped at this opportunity as it has long been a wish and dream of the charity to have a special A&E provision in the hospital for children. We are already discussing ways in which we can use our creative skills and provide those extra facilities and special touches that will really make the unit child-friendly and welcoming.

The installation of a Computerised Tomography(CT) X-ray machine within the A & E Department will significantly improve the service. Currently between 10 and 20 patients attending the department per day require an immediate CT scan. The nearest scanner is in the main X-ray Dept and patients have to be wheeled along long corridors accompanied by a doctor, nurse and porter, to wait for an opportunity between routine patients booked for sans. Having a CT scanner in the department will - Improve immediate management of e.g. stroke and head injury patients; release A & E staff to care for other patients: provide additional CT capacity for inpatients from the wads. (There would be a separate access for these patients).

We are delighted to say that an incredibly generous donation of £25,000 from Guru Gobind Singh Gurdwara (GGSG) in Kempston has kick started this appeal.

Building work is going on apace.