QA staff dance the day away to raise cash for machine

A team of nurses at Queen Alexandra Hospital took part in a dance-a-thon to raise cash for a new machine.

The staff, from the children’s ward, need £30,000 for their own blood gas analyser. At the moment they have to borrow one from different departments in the Cosham hospital.

During the 12-hour dance session, there were different themes from Bollywood and Zumba to masquerade.

They also had toddlers from Tops Nursery taking part and invited in an aerobics instructor for one of the themes.

Organiser Kate Blake, who is an advanced clinical practitioner, said: ‘The day went really well.

‘We had people who were coming into the hospital joining in and we had children from the ward also having a dance.

‘We are nearly at the £30,000 we need for the machine and the response during the dance-a-thon was great.’

The blood gas analyser is used to diagnose and manage the treatment for sick children at the hospital.

It is hoped that having a machine within the paediatric department will speed up the process of diagnosis and give more accurate results.

Kate added: ‘At the moment, the nurses have to run to other wards in the hospital to use the machine. It will save the nurses time and it means they won’t have to be off the ward.

‘We can make time-critical decisions and it will help in emergency situations.’

As well as the dance-a-thon, the nurses have also held cake sales, completed walks and had donations from businesses.

Nurse Kathryn Shinn said: ‘The fundraising has gone really well so far.

‘It is really important that we get this machine. Everyone has been so enthusiastic about raising the money.’

Once the £30,000 is raised, additional funds will be used to make improvements to the ward.

Mum Kellie Allen, from Cowplain, said: ‘My six-year-old son Jude has intestinal failure and has spent half of his life in QA and is currently waiting for a mutli-organ transplant.

‘The blood gas analyser the department want to buy is hugely important to the children being treated at QA.

‘It will benefit Jude and it will make the nurses’ lives much easier.’