11 October 2012 Bill Blair - Forth Valley Royal Hospital and its Friends

Rotary learns what Friends can do

The valuable work performed by the friends of Forth Valley Royal Hospital (FVRH) at Larbert was outlined by Bill Blair, vice chairman of the Trustees, at the Bridge of Allan & Dunblane Rotary Club meeting on Thursday evening.

            The state-of-the-art. 860-bed, 25-ward hospital that serves a catchment of around 300,000 people opened in August 2010 and was fully operational by July 2011, when it was officially opened by Her Majesty the Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh.

"Staff had input into the design," he said, "which includes more privacy for the patients and a greater sense of calm."

The £300million build - currently the most expensive in - boasts the use of automatic guided vehicles (AGVs) that provide automatic delivery of a number of essential services, including delivering food to the wards, moving trolleys and recycling bins. "It's a very good way of controlling infection," he explained, "because the AGVs reduce the likelihood of contamination."

There are also pharmacy robotics that deliver medication to the wards, which is then rigorously checked by staff before being dispensed.

Mr Blair said that the Friends committee meets monthly and was granted charitable status in October 2011. The group has already raised several thousands pounds through a number of initiatives like a quarterly tombola in the hospital, tin collections, coffee mornings and bag-packing in local supermarkets.

 "The Friends aim to provide additional amenities that have not, nor cannot be provided by the NHS. For example, we buy special mattresses and chairs, fund subscriptions for magazines -and provide comfort packs for those patients who may have been emergencies and haven't had time to pack the essentials," he said.

For more information, contact: friendsoffvrh@hotmail.com.