After a very wet and windy holiday in Ludlow at the weekend, I have come back to work and my blog brimming with excitement that Spring must be on its way even if today that does seem rather a remote dream. The Charity team is planning our Annual Golf Day on 20 June (with the fabulous Shakin’ Stevens), the Summer Picnic at Harefield on 5 July, a revival of the much loved London Bridges Walk on 14 July and even anticipating the Harefield Fun Run on 8 September – like the first cuckoo in Spring! The planning of our summer events heralds warmer weather and fun get-togethers. 

As we approach our fiscal year end, I am proud to announce that we have surpassed our £500k target for buying life-saving Organ Care Systems as part of our Harefield Transplant Appeal. Well done to the team which has achieved this, but well done and thank you even more to you wonderful donors who have made that happen. We at the Charity are being asked to support other projects in the new financial year, starting in April, but the need to support the Organ Care Systems has not gone away, so all funds raised to buy this equipment will continue.  Harefield performs more heart and lung operations than any other UK hospital – and that is due in no small way to the Charity buying so many of these Organ Care Systems – and, more importantly, to our donors supporting our appeal to buy them.   

Our fundraising for the ambitious Cystic Fibrosis Appeal is also approaching its target. A great number of patients are now working with the new programme of self-monitoring and remote consultations so giant strides are taking this vision forward. But it is a very complex project and the experts here at Royal Brompton are working with digital platform providers to take this ambition to the next stage. Thank you to all of you who have helped us – please let me know if you would like to have a progress report on where we are with this journey. It is difficult to bring people with cystic fibrosis together because of the risk of cross infection but many patients and families have already kindly supported our appeal.

It is not just the cystic fibrosis community which is watching with interest how this pioneering programme is working. Here is a quote from one of London’s top professors Professor Martin Cowie, who is Professor of Cardiology at Imperial College and Royal Brompton Hospital and also Director of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.

“The CF Future Care ambition is very exciting. The outcomes of this project could create a highly efficient, cost-effective and patient-friendly model of care for thousands of people born or living with chronic heart conditions throughout the UK as well as for people living with cystic fibrosis.  The whole healthcare community is watching this initiative very closely.” 

Professor Cowie is also Chair of the Digital Committee of the European Society of Cardiology, which is why he is so fascinated by the impact which technology can have in treating patients with heart and lung diseases.  For more information about this appeal please explore here.