Like every hospital, Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals are putting in place actions and preparations to cope with the coronavirus, and your Charity is playing its part too. We have been raising funds for ECMO - the lifesaving equipment which is a last chance method for saving people who are in severe respiratory or cardiac failure. Little did we know when we launched our appeal in October how this equipment would be so needed in 2020. Thank you to all of you who have given to this appeal - we bought one piece of equipment in December and are in the process of buying a second one now. These will add to the fleet of ECMO machines here at Royal Brompton, but the machines are nothing without expert clinicians and we- and our patients - are incredibly lucky to be part of an ambition which has both. 

But in the middle of a rather gloomy time of year with floods and coronavirus and other bad news, there are things to make you smile. The pictures - and video - which came from Pancake Day at Harefield school, joining pupils to the hospital Charity. The Charity also received a £100,000 bequest to help buy more organ care systems - like ECMO - expensive but vital in saving lives - this time bringing organs back to Harefield for transplantation. I have been thinking of the patients and their families who get the call to say that there is an organ which is available, and which can save a life.

Our News Beat - the twice-yearly newsletter from the Charity - is coming out very soon. It is packed full of stories about what you have helped us to achieve, together with new ambitions to help our hospitals and our patients. Once again, as I read through it in draft form before it goes to print, I am reminded how amazing this job is - to be the bridge between people who want to say thank you to our hospitals and buying equipment to help Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals stay at the top of their expertise. Please look out for your News Beat which should be with you in a couple of weeks, and if it doesn't arrive - give one of us a nudge by email, phone or social media, and we will get a copy to you.