A new staff room for the Emergency Department, hardship grants for staff who are struggling, and backing ideas across SASH NHS Trust to support NHS staff. 

Right now, people working in the NHS are under huge pressure. We are asking for your help to support the people who care for us when we need it most, day and night here in Surrey and Sussex. Increased levels of need, and system wide challenges mean many staff in our hospitals have had no respite since the beginning of the pandemic. The Chief Executive of NHS England, Amanda Pritchard recently warned that pressures on staff nationally this winter could be harder than at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.  

We want to help the teams keep going. 

By supporting our NHS staff welfare campaign, you will help do three very practical things, with more to come:

  • Create a new staff room for the 300 staff who work in the Emergency Department at East Surrey Hospital, so they have somewhere comfortable to take a break or to change in/out of work scrubs, with a new courtyard so they can step outside for fresh air during long, difficult shifts.
  • You will also help us support a new hardship fund for NHS staff facing urgent financial hardship, allowing us to signpost staff towards longer term financial advice and support, as well as for the first time, directly providing hardship grants where a member of staff is facing urgent financial crisis.
  • By supporting the campaign, you will help us say yes to ideas from staff which support their welfare, partly through creating new or enanced facilities across Surrey & Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust for staff, as well as for patients, and families.

1. Create a new staff room and courtyard for the Emergency Department

We need your support to raise £100,000 to build a brand new staff room for the c300 staff who work in the Emergency Department at East Surrey Hospital.

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The department operates 24 hours a day, every day. Dealing with life threatening emergencies faced by people in Surrey and Sussex. In a typical day, up to 100 blue light emergency ambulances arrive, alongside people arriving with loved ones or walking in having experienced a medical emergency.

The current staff room is dated, with very worn facilities. There's no access to outdoor space for fresh air despite being next to a courtyard, and changing facilities, storage, and comfortable seating/rest spaces are minimal.

Your donations will help us transform the staff room for those people who save lives in the ED every single day and night. You will help us remove old, tired furnishings and an old kitchen, and to provide brand new custom fitted furnishings, a new kitchen area, a new changing cubicle for staff to change, and new décor throughout, creating a much nicer environment for staff working in this incredibly demanding environment.

Alongside this, a new doorway will be created, providing access to a (currently inaccessible) courtyard, so the team are able to step outside into some fresh air.

The new staff room and courtyard space will make a huge difference for the people who are there for us when we most need it.

2. Provide urgent hardship grants for NHS Staff in crisis

We are setting up a new staff hardship fund to help staff facing urgent financial hardship, through making one off grants of up to £500. alongside signposting people to meaningful longer term help, your support will help us offer this very direct financial support to people working at Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, who are facing urgent financial need. Because staff wellbeing has a direct effect on the quality of care people can provide. 

To enable us to make hardship grants to colleagues who are struggling - you can donate specifically into the hardship fund at https://sashcharity.enthuse.com/cf/hardshipgrants

Alongside establishing the hardship fund, the charity is working with the Trust's people directorate to ensure that all staff are aware of broader support which is available, and are also put in contact with other organisations who can offer meaningful longer term help beyond our urgent grants. These include the Citizens Advice Bureau for meaningful long term advice and support, and local baby bank Stripey Stork, who can help parents who are struggling with essentials for the children.

 A nurse who recently received our first hardship grant said:

“I can’t express how thankful I am. You have no idea how much this will help me. Thank you does not seem enough. 

I am so grateful. Thank you again for everything, it means so much”

Urgent hardship grants from SASH Charity are to help staff in a short term crisis, and only possible thanks to your support. Find out how to apply for a grant, or donate to the hardship fund HERE.

3. Create enhanced facilities for staff across SASH NHS Trust

We are working with SASH staff welfare/wellbeing committee to gather additional ideas for how to to further enhance facilities for both staff and visitors across SASH NHS Trust. Donations to the staff welfare campaign will help further enhance spaces for people to take breaks, to rest, to get some fresh air. All essential for people visiting loved ones in hospital, and for staff to be able to step away from clinical areas and take a break.

Why we need your help

The pressure being felt by hospital staff, and others across the health and care system is huge. Right now, people working in our hospitals are under pressure from both increased demand, and system wide challenges. The cost of living crisis which poses challenges for so many across the country is also impacting many NHS colleagues.

As the hospital charity, alongside our work for patients and families, we know that our supporters want to help SASH NHS Trust to do more to look after staff working in our hospitals. 

The wellbeing of NHS staff matters. Both in itself, and also because we know that staff wellbeing has a clear impact on the quality of care patients receive. 

By donating today, you will directly help staff who are working day and night to care for us when we need it most. 

Donate now