Funding for projects to improve the patient experience

Projects seeking to purchase equipment will need to:

• Improve the level of patient care by adding to what the hospitals can offer patients.
• Clearly describe the capital, revenue and maintenance costs.
• Be discussed with and fully supported by the relevant clinical board in advance of an approach to the charity.
• Be approved by the trust’s capital management group (CMG) – this ensures compatibility with existing equipment and adherence to established standards of care.
• Be facilitated by the trust’s supplies and procurement teams to ensure value for money and adherence to  health and safety regulations (where it is not possible to purchase via the trust’s procurement system, please discuss this with the charity).
• Provide endorsement from estates, procurement, digital and technical, or other trust colleagues where relevant.
• Include VAT costs EXCEPT for items that are medical, scientific, computer, video, sterilising, laboratory, or refrigeration equipment for use in medical research, training, diagnosis or treatment in which case VAT costs can be excluded.

All equipment purchased will become the property of the Trust.

Maintenance costs will be considered on a case by case basis depending on funds available, but will generally only be supported for up to one year from the date of purchase.
 
For further advice on the CMG process, please contact the Business Development Team via [email protected].
 
If you wish to submit a proposal to charity, you can either:
 
Take a proposal through the CMG process first. If approval is provided you can then approach the charity to try and secure funding for the potential purchase,

Or:

Submit a proposal to the charity. If charity supports the proposal this will be conditional on the proposal being taken through the CMG process and approved. No funds can be released until evidence of this is provided to charity.

Please note that approval from either the charity or the CMG does not mean the other will necessarily approve the potential purchase. Each body has their own criteria they are required to follow.

Projects seeking support for building or refurbishment work will need to:

• Be discussed with and fully supported by the relevant clinical board and the trust’s estates team in advance of an approach to the charity
• Be approved by the trust’s capital management group (CMG) – this ensures compatibility with existing equipment and adherence to established standards of care
• Be facilitated by the trust’s estates teams

Where a proposal seeks to update and improve the patient environment (e.g. artwork etc) then please read our ‘Arts in the Hospital Environment’ webpage

Funding for staff who work in clinical roles will not usually be supported by the charity. Please refer to the patient wellbeing guidance for further information. 

• Access to new technologies and innovation
• Equipment with enhanced functionality
• Additional pieces of equipment that increase capacity and resilience

• Replacement of equipment that is ‘new for old’ on a like-for-like basis
• Ongoing revenue costs for consumables including for equipment funded by the charity
• Computers, laptops, iPads, or other electronic devices that are required for staff to undertake their role including to work remotely
• Proposals to support individually named patients
• Proposals to support patients where the primary benefit will be for those who are being treated outside of the hospitals connected to the trust, or outside of trust’s connection to clinical care connected to the north east

Projects seeking support for staff posts will need to demonstrate that they:

• ‘Pump-prime’ a specific project, new activity or service development which is time defined with a maximum term of 2 years
• Involve specialist staff who are non-clinical and whose role enhances the experience provided to patients and their families
• Establish agreement at the point of funding that either the posts will end or will become the trust’s responsibility to fund once the initial period has expired
• Demonstrate consideration as to whether the project/activity can be delivered by a third party or external organisation, on a contract basis rather than directly employing individuals
• Stipulate that the post employs staff from within the NHS, so that no future employment liabilities are incurred by the trust; and no future liabilities are placed on future charity trustees

In addition please note that:

• The charity will not be able to support recruitment costs or any additional costs not agreed as part of the proposal submitted
• If there may be a need to backfill other posts in the trust as a result of charity supporting a proposal then a plan should be clearly outlined and supported by the clinical board to ensure that there is no risk to core service provision
• In all cases the applicant should take advice on their proposal from the trust’s human resources department and costings provided by finance team must be included as part of the submission
• Proposals should describe the exit strategy for any fixed term posts, as charity will not support further funding at the end of the funding period
• Severance and redundancy payments will not be covered by or paid from charitable funds under any circumstances

To give applicants flexibility at recruitment stage the charity is likely to base approved funding on the maximum potential salary costs meaning:

• Proposals should quote the maximum salary costs in their submissions

Funding for posts where the postholder is employed by an external body (such as a support worker) can be considered for charitable support as there will be no employment obligations conferred on the trust.

The charity may support gifts for patients as follows:

• Modest gifts for groups of inpatients at times of celebration – as a guide gifts should usually be based on a value of about £10 per patient
• Birthday gifts for children, which can be purchased for a named child outside of normal celebration times

Other than the above gifts for individual patients cannot be supported by the charity. Please note if a patient is experiencing individual hardship then see below for guidance as to how the charity can provide support.

NHC supports several established schemes to support patients and families. Examples include provision of hardship grants for GNCH patients and families, and for transplant patients and families. Further examples include the provision of advice re benefits and financial issues for families, a social prescription service, a close partnership with the chaplaincy to support their work to alleviate hardship, and support for parents at meal times when their children are in hospital as inpatients often for lengthy periods.

In addition to the above where there are exceptional and difficult circumstance for patients and their families the charity can consider funding family and carer travel and accommodation for a specific time period. The Charity will assess these cases with reference to whether the need is:

• urgent and exceptional
• not fundable from any other source
• a case of genuine hardship

• Staff roles which are typically non-clinical
• Refurbishments of patient and family areas in the hospital and associated outside space
• Gaming equipment or other entertainment devices for patients
• Equipment such as televisions or other devices for patient and family areas
• Christmas related activities including decorations, patient presents as well as hospital wide events

• Proposals to support individually named patients
• Projects which directly or indirectly benefit commercial companies providing services to the hospital.