Its Never Easy These Days by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: urn:ean:9781784625733
Publisher: Matador

THE GOLD RUSH

– The League Of Friends

Virtually all NHS hospitals have support groups called ‘The League of Friends’. These groups exist to support hospitals offering both financial and moral support and are usually fiercely loyal to the healthcare facilities in their localities. The affiliation and relationships that a local league has with its hospital is often an extremely good litmus test as to how the delivery and quality of the hospital services are perceived by the local community.

Membership of the league often indicates the broad social spectrum the catchment area in which the hospital is situated. It is not unusual for a wide variety of backgrounds to be represented and at one hospital I worked in the cast from their League of Friends included ex-coal miners, a greengrocer and a college principal. The group is able to direct sums of money, sometimes of not insignificant amounts, towards the hospital. The money is raised through a variety of events – specific fundraising evenings (line dancing, quizzes, suppers); occasional stalls on a local market, sponsorship and of course the traditional rattling tin outside of supermarkets on a Saturday morning. There was even one group that I met with regularly that had rights to a quarry and there was much speculation that an extremely tidy sum would come to the hospital’s coffers due to royalty agreements on the amount of gravel and sand shifted. Sadly this did not prove to be the case.

Trying to shape the perceptions of League of Friends’ members often proved to be no mean feat. Partly because such a diverse and eclectic group had a wide variety of views as to how funds should be committed, partly due to the types of personality within a League of Friends group and the occasional infighting that occurred. It was fascinating to watch the dynamics of the group in action. Although the league would include some ex-nurses or perhaps doctor’s wives, generally the members were lay people from a clinical perspective and ready to be guided on how the money should be directed. At one particular site, my boss and I had a very workable strategy for dealing with the friends of the hospital. The full meeting of the league was held every two months – ten days prior to the meeting, the Finance Committee of the League of Friends meet. In practical terms this was the inner cabal that subtly dominated and controlled the main committee. It was at this meeting that I (or my boss if it was his turn) presented the prospective ‘shopping list’ of items requested by the various wards and departments. The list was discussed and prioritised and from this point the recommendations would be made to the full committee.

Now as the majority of league members were from non-clinical backgrounds and generally of mature years, there was a certain mystique about medical equipment and the occasional doctor that attended main meetings to present their case. There was a general willingness to commit the funding, particularly to ‘machines that go beep’.

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