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IBMS visit Chichester hospital to see Harvey’s Gang in action

IBMS visit Chichester hospital to see Harvey’s Gang in action
16 March 2017
CEO attends the multi-award winning IBMS members children’s laboratory tour initiative

On Thursday 9th March Jill Rodney, IBMS CEO, took part in a laboratory tour at St. Richard’s Hospital with Harvey’s Gang founder and IBMS member Malcolm Robinson. 

Harvey’s Gang origins

Harvey’s Gang was started in October 2014 after 8 year old patient Harvey Buster Baldwin lost his battle for life. At 6 years old Harvey, who was ill with acute myeloid leukaemia, asked to be shown where his blood samples were being taken. The children’s ward at Worthing Hospital then arranged for Harvey to visit the pathology laboratory with Malcolm, who is the Chief Biomedical Scientist for Western Sussex Hospitals.

Harvey sadly passed away 18 months later after his bone marrow transplant failed. However, through the Harvey’s Gang initiative as well as having the world’s first ORTHO Vision Analyser blood grouping machine at Worthing Hospital named after him, his legacy lives on.

Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has rolled out the programme to three other hospitals, in Worthing and Chichester. Other NHS hospital trusts have successfully trialled Harvey’s Gang initiatives including Ashford, Margate, Canterbury, Kings, Dundee, Newcastle and Great Ormond Street, whilst Barking Havering and Redbridge University Trust are using Healthcare Science Week to trial it for the first time.

Since beginning just three years ago Harvey’s Gang has already won a host of awards including Healthcare Science Patient and Public Participation Award, The Kate Granger Award for Compassionate Care and the Compassionate Care Award Patients first Staff Achievement and Recognition Award.

Jill’s visit

Jill joined a tour of the blood transfusion laboratory that had been planned for 5 year old patient Zofia, accompanied by her father Jacek. Both Jill and Zofia were given special Harvey’s Gang lab coats for their tour with Zofia wearing hers all day at school after!

The tour took in all areas of the laboratory and followed the route of a blood sample, taking in the many processes, machinery and staff it takes to operate them. As well as all the many Lego figures and trains adorning the lab equipment.

As Zofia has undergone blood transfusion at the hospital it was important for her to learn what happens with her samples. In similar situations, this has helped persuade some young patients to have their blood taken despite being petrified of needles. As well as highlighting the importance of biomedical scientists work in children’s healthcare, the tours also provide an ideal opportunity for laboratory staff to meet with young patients.

Despite the tours proving to be extremely popular for both young patients and lab staff, Harvey’s Gang are able to keep the costs to a minimum thanks to donations from local business and schools. This week they received a cheque for £754.08 from Sompting Village Primary School, collected at their Christmas plays. At the end of each tour patients are given Harvey’s Gang certificates and a personalised lab coat, as well as a goody bag containing lab toys, comics and colouring in books all provided by laboratory supply companies.

Jill said:

“It was amazing to see first-hand the work that Malcolm and his team are undertaking here. To see the joy on Zofia’s face as she was shown around the lab was wonderful. Harvey’s Gang initiative is truly inspiring and I am thankful to Malcolm for inviting me, as well as to Zofia and Dad for allowing me to join her on her tour. 

It is down to the hard work and dedication to the profession of our members, like Malcolm, that help promote and highlight the importance of biomedical scientists in the NHS to the public. This is a wonderful initiative and we hope that other trusts will adopt the programme in hospitals across the UK.”

Malcolm said:

“To see and feel the affect that Harvey’s Gang tours have on children and young people is amazing and it humbles us biomedical scientists as human beings. When you see the smile on the faces of the young patients, despite their ongoing illness and treatment, it shows that we should have nothing to complain about. They are brave hero’s and heroines. 

It is also great CPD for our staff as we see young patients with illnesses that we may have only read about. We can talk about their treatment and our interactions with that treatment. It has also changed our work attitude, as we now ensure that the patient does come first and that we have the right product for the patient for their timeframe, not ours.

To have help and support from Ortho Clinical Diagnostics, LabCold, Handelsbanken and BGS Reading means that we, as a small charity, can continue to grow - offering Harvey’s Gang tours to children and young people at more NHS Trust sites.

Through these tours, I was able to meet my heroine, the late great Dr Kate Granger MBE. She presented the Harvey's Gang team with a Compassionate Care award which I was truly honoured to accept." 

 

Please continue to help and support

To make a donation to Harvey's Gang please visit their Just Giving page here

You can also read more about the amazing work of Harvey’s Gang on their regularly updated blog, as well as follow them on Facebook and Twitter

 

Watch now

Harvey's Gang was featured on BBC South Today News

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