Melksham Hospital still going strong!

IT might look quiet from the outside, but did you know that Melksham Community Hospital is still a hive of activity? And did you know that the local charity, Friends of Melksham Hospital & Community, is still thriving, working hard to support and improve services? 

Whilst the hospital no longer has any beds or a minor injuries unit, the building is home to a plethora of services including X-ray, mental health, podiatry, a physiotherapy department, a wheelchair service, a number of out-patient services, and some minor operations are even performed on site. A team of community nurses, managed by Wiltshire Heath and Care (and NHS Partnership), are also based at the hospital. 

Supporting the work of the hospital is volunteer group, Friends of Melksham Hospital & Community, who are this year celebrating 50 years as a charitable organisation. Over the years they have fundraised to provide equipment for different departments and services to improve patients’ experiences. 

And those who remember the Friends’ legendary annual hospital fete will be pleased to hear that the fete is making a welcome return next year in July! The news marks a push by the group to raise awareness of what goes on the hospital and how people can get involved with the Friends. They will also be in attendance at this year’s Food and River Festival in September, with their own stall to promote their work. 

Explaining the history of the hospital and the work of Friends of Melksham Hospital & Community, chairman George Brown told Melksham News, “Melksham Community Hospital was established on the present site in the late 1930s and funded by the local community. The Friends have evolved over many years in association with the hospital trust, with the simple aim of doing all we can to help maintain and improve health care in and around Melksham.

“The Friends became a registered charity in 1972, 50 years this year. The charity is a small modest charity, run by a committee of volunteers, with no regular income, but has a small reserve of funds donated to the charity by local families, who appreciated the attention and care that their relatives received from the local nursing staff. 

“The committee members meet on a regular basis, and debate funding requests, and appeals from the hospital staff, and health-related community projects, and agrees funding if it is within our aims and objectives. 

“When the NHS was established, all community hospitals were integrated and administration was delegated to local major hospitals. In the early 2000s, the NHS closed the Melksham Hospital wards, approximately 30 beds and the casualty department, leaving only part-time outpatient departments, community nurses, and admin offices on site. 

“Therefore, the Friends’ activities and involvement have declined since these major changes, however we continue to support all departments and a very dedicated community nursing team. There are now approximately 50 community nurses working long hours in all weathers, visiting the sick and elderly in the local community. 

“During the national lockdowns in 2020/21 the committee continued to operate remotely, funding items for the hospital teams and for the benefit of the local community. For example, we provided funds to update equipment for the nursing team to use for home visits and reinstated the water and hot drinks, in the hospital outpatient department, for the benefit of patients and staff.  

“We also provided new equipment for the Melksham hearing and physio departments to enable more local treatments, which can avoid patients travelling to the major hospitals. 

“More recently, we donated £5,000 to support funding for new equipment for the RUH cancer unit.  

“We also funded winter fleeces, with identity logos, for all the community nurses when visiting local patients.  

“The Friends provided funding for two new Raizer lifting chairs, to assist the Melksham First Responder teams. These chairs are designed to mechanically lift patients who have fallen. The responders can help lift the patient to a comfortable sitting or standing position, without any physical effort and if there are no injuries, often avoids the attendance of an ambulance crew. 

“As there are no hospital staff to attend to the hospital flower gardens, volunteer gardeners from the committee have for many years looked after and developed a memorial garden in the hospital courtyard and around the main entrance. We provide funding for plants and shrubs and annual summer hanging baskets, thanks to Karen of the local Holt Nursery. 

“During the national lockdowns, our volunteers were not able to access the hospital site due to strict Covid regulations. During this period, the flower gardens became very neglected and after almost two years, needed major work. Therefore, urgent assistance was needed to restore these areas. 

“We appealed to Lackham College for help with the restoration and had a very positive response. With approval from the NHS site managers, eight students from Lackham, with college supervisors, have worked hard to renovate the neglected courtyard garden at Melksham Hospital. The students are all members of the Access to land-based studies course and are working every Tuesday afternoon.  

“They have already greatly improved this garden, by cutting back existing shrubs, replanted flower beds with a generous donation of plants from Mark, of Flowers in Focus, Bank Street, repaired the water feature, and restored/repainted the raised beds, with materials funded by the Friends. 

“It is once again becoming a peaceful place to be enjoyed by staff and patients. Many of the Lackham students live in the Melksham area and they have enjoyed the work, learned new skills, and were able to give something back to the local community. 

“The Friends have also provided Christmas decorations over many years and our volunteers took great pride and pleasure dressing the hospital at Christmas, and always appreciated many comments of approval from staff and patients at that time of the year. After three years of restrictions, we are hopeful that we will be able to decorate Melksham Hospital for Christmas 2022.” 

If you want to get involved with the Friends, contact the group’s secretary, Donna Ruderman, by email: donnaruderman@sky.com; or call her on 07977 319 236.