New bed weighing scales for Basingstoke hospital ward

Harry Cowdrey, who has worked at the hospital for five years, started the fundraising campaign last November after he saw the need for new bed weighing scales on the orthopaedic trauma ward.

To help the hospital buy the essential piece of equipment, Harry decided to take on a 40-mile walk, which has now allowed the hospital to purchase the scales. 

The new state-of-the-art bed weighing scales will allow staff on the D4 orthopaedic trauma ward to weigh patients more accurately and without causing them pain.

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The Hampshire Medical Fund, a charity that supports the Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, also donated money towards the purchase of the new bed weighing scales.

"I don’t think I’d have been able to achieve this without the help of the Hampshire Medical Fund," said Harry.

"They do amazing work helping our Hampshire Hospitals and without their support helping me to fund the rest of this project I doubt D4 would have the scales they now do, which are such a benefit to the department."

D4 ward specialises in neck of femur/femur fractures and so when a patient is transferred to the team they have a bunch of care plans to follow to make sure the patient is treated holistically and to make them feel comfortable when they reach the ward.

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"One such care plan is nutrition and weight and so with the condition our patients are in it's impossible to get them weighed accurately without causing them a huge amount of pain, which is where the bed scales come in," Harry said.

"They allow us to weigh the patient more effectively and without causing more pain to the patient.

"We used to share bed scales with other wards. Having our own makes a huge difference to the department which in knowing this, is why I started my charity hikes."