The Forever Friends Appeal
Speech and Language Therapy Special Appeal
A Fiberoptic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing (FEES). Patients have to wait for a specialist clinic whilst they wait, they are unable to eat or drink and will have a feeding tube inserted, often an uncomfortable procedure. A FEES machine would enable the hospital to provide bedside support.
It ran from 12:00 PM, 1 December 2020 to 12:00 PM, 8 December 2020
Registered Charity in England and Wales (1058323)
Match funded Campaign target
£7,500
Amount raised
£7,500
Donations
26
Championed by The Reed Foundation
Location
United Kingdom
Campaign overview
Aims
Where's the money going?
Impact & reporting
Gerry ended up in the RUH after a fall. Despite the incredible care he received, we said goodbye to him after a difficult three weeks. He was a wonderful husband and father. The saddest thing for us as a family was to see this bright and talkative man lose his ability to eat, swallow, and speak.
— The Hones Family
By having this portable machine at the RUH it will allow us to provide a gold standard level of care for our most vulnerable patients.
— Catherine Cawley, Clinical Specialist Speech and Language Therapist
Situation
Many people can develop swallowing difficulties as a result of conditions such as dementia, Parkinson’s disease, stroke, respiratory conditions and head and neck cancer. When they eat or drink they can experience coughing and/or choking . Patients are having to wait for a weekly clinic to be assessed, meaning they often are left unable to eat or drink whilst they wait, meaning patients must have a feeding tube to keep them alive.
Solution
By funding a FEES machine which is portable so our therapists can be trained to assess their patients without delay at their bedside. This would remove the need to send them for an x-ray and have a feeding tube. Patients’ well-being would improve and our therapists would be able to recommend appropriate treatment straight away.
