Presenter Clive Anderson was asking the questions once again last week, at our Great Brompton Quiz to help fund two new, state-of-the-art isolation rooms within Royal Brompton’s adult intensive care unit.

The new rooms will benefit hundreds of patients with life-threatening heart and lung conditions at our hospital.

More than 200 quiz enthusiasts descended on St Columba’s Church in Knightsbridge for the quiz, an evening of friendly competition, humour, live music and supper. Guests from the theatre, both West End and operating, joined other Royal Brompton Hospital staff and members of the public, as well as a few famous faces. Harry Enfield, Hugh Dennis and Andy Hamilton were among those who came out in support of Royal Brompton. The winning team, Jude the Obscure, counted among their team mates executive producer of the hit West End musical Matilda, Andre Ptaszynski.

Anderson, whose many radio and TV credits include Loose Ends, Whose Line Is It Anyway? , Clive Anderson Talks Back and QI, said:

“When I was young I wanted to be a doctor. I am now a doctor’s husband, so I came close and I know how important it is for our medical teams to have the best facilities in order to save lives,” says Anderson.

“The Great Brompton Quiz is a way for all sorts of teams to raise money, even if they may not have all the answers. I think everyone had a great evening – including me!”

All proceeds from the event will go directly towards the construction of two specialist isolation rooms within Royal Brompton Hospital’s adult intensive care unit, ensuring even tighter infection control, and allowing families to stay close by at all times in a designated ‘pod’ area, without being in the way of round the clock care and equipment. This is a unique feature in adult wards.

Royal Brompton is one of only five UK hospitals commissioned to provide highly specialised extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) to treat patients with life-threatening respiratory disease. These patients will be the main beneficiaries of the rooms, which will also accommodate patients with severe cardiac conditions.

Jo Tillman, Senior Nurse and Matron on the unit, said: “Patients from all over the UK come to us in need of specialist care. They often require lots of equipment and staff around them, and family members can sometimes feel in the way.

“It can be very hard for families, but their visits are so important for patients’ recovery. We want to encourage visits as much as possible. Having these additional, larger and quieter rooms with a space for families, will improve the whole patient and visitor experience.”

The quiz raised £11,500 for the new intensive care rooms, as part of the Charity’s appeal, Enhancing Critical Care, which aims to raise £300,000 in total. To learn more about this appeal, click here.