User:The Children's Hospital Trust/sandbox

Bold text

The Children’s Hospital Trust

The Children’s Hospital Trust was founded in 1994 as the independent Fundraising Arm of the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa when the Hospital was threatened with closure due to lack of funding. Since its inception the Children’s Hospital Trust has supported the Hospital through upgrading its buildings, purchasing vital equipment and funding critical training and research programmes. In 2011 while continuing to assist the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital by raising funding to address its many pressing needs the Children’s Hospital Trust expanded its mandate to also raise funds for projects beyond the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital and within the Western Cape, South Africa which will directly impact paediatric healthcare and indirectly impact patient outcomes and services in the Hospital and reduce the burden on the Hospital. Research conducted by the Children’s Hospital Trust into the gaps in paediatric healthcare confirmed that needs exist outside of the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital which require funding ranging from paediatric safety education to child rehabilitation. The first Children’s Hospital Trust expanded-reach fundraising project was the equipping of four METRO Emergency Medical Services (EMS) ambulances additional specialist paediatric equipment to. Improve EMS pre-hospital and inter-hospital services rendered to Neonate and Infant patients in the Western Cape Province, South Africa The Children’s Hospital Trust’s operational costs are funded from an endowment which was given to create this independent charity in 1994, ensuring that 100% of all donations received go directly to the specified projects and programmes at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital and none is used for administration or operational expenses.. The same ethos is applied to projects benefitting the Western Cape Province in South Africa benefitting sick children in Africa.

''In order to achieve its Vision, the Children's Hospital Trust always:

•	always act in partnership with the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital, its Health Facility's Board and other key strategic partners including government;

•	meticulously care for the assets entrusted to its control;

•	maintain and strengthen its existing, successful fundraising methods, policies and ethos;

•	apply the principles of sound stewardship in caring for all its donors;

•	continue to make every effort to raise the funds required to meet infrastructure and equipment needs as identified and prioritised by the Hospital, but will grow sustained long-term individual giving;

•	enhance its communication and marketing efforts in order to reach the widest possible donor community as well as the staff of the Hospital itself;

•	where possible, and with Hospital management's approval, support funding for programmes aimed at the development of   hospital staff;

•	where relevant and appropriate, fund selected research projects in conjunction with the Faculty of Health Sciences of the University of Cape Town in South Africa;

•	with the agreement of the Hospital, provide any additional form of support it is able to give;

•	govern strictly within the guidelines set in its own Governance Charter;

•	strengthen its administrative and managerial capacity in line with any wider operational requirements;

•	maximise fiscal and managerial control and implement a sound risk management strategy;

•	address the needs of Trust office staff through best human resource management

Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital

The history of the Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital goes back all the way to the Second World War when a group of South African soldiers of all races resolved that when they returned home they would create a place of healing in honour of their fallen comrades. The soldiers contributed part of their salary to a special fund and once back on South African soil planned the Hospital together with the Red Cross Society, a charity organisation, and the Cape Provincial Government. The Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital in Cape Town had relatively humble beginnings when it opened in 1956, but today it is a cornerstone of paediatric health care, and the only stand alone, specialist children's hospital dedicated entirely to children in southern Africa.

Managing approximately 260 000 patient visits a year and treating some of the most complex, life-threatening or life-limiting conditions, not only does the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital treat extremely sick children with great success, it also serves as a facility to train others and runs an effective outreach programmes. The Hospital is managed by the Department of Health of the Provincial Government of the Western Cape (PGWC) with an operational budget of R359million for the 2008/2009 Financial Year. The Children's Hospital Trust works in partnership with the Department of Health on specific projects. Over and above this the Hospital depends on charitable donations to ensure it remains the leading centre for child health care in Africa. Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital is unique in that it offers a comprehensive range of specialist paediatric healthcare services to children from all over Africa.

•	It provides a significant tertiary service, as well as paediatric outreach and support programmes across South Africa.

•	It is regarded as South Africa's leading centre for post-graduate specialist paediatric medical and surgical training. •	It has academic links with the University of Cape Town's School of Child and Adolescent Health; the University of the Western Cape's Dental School and is developing links with the University of Stellenbosch.

Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital - Pioneers in Paediatric Care

As southern Africa's only dedicated specialist paediatric hospital and one of South Africa's preferred facilities, the Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital renowned for their long list of South African firsts:

•	1959 - The first open-heart surgery on a child.

•	1960 - The largest neonatal intensive care unit (Dr Chris Barnard established the original cardiac unit and ICU).

•	1964 - The first hospital to separate conjoined twins.

•	1969 - The first children's cancer service.

•	1971 - The first paediatric poison information centre.

•	1978 - The first Child Accident Prevention Foundation (CAPFSA).

•	1979 - The first and only paediatric neurosurgery programme.

•	1981 - The first lumbosacral selective rhizotomy for spasticity.

•	1984 - The first dedicated paediatric trauma unit.

•	1984 - The first paediatric day surgery unit.

•	1990 - The first child heart transplant.

•	1991 - The first and only paediatric liver transplant programme.

•	1997 - The first double transplant on a child (liver and kidney).

•	2001 - The first autologous epithelial autograft on a burn patient.

•	2002 - The first living related liver transplant. Other Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital AchievementsItalic text•


 * Since 1964, 35 sets of conjoined twins have been separated.
 * Since 1987, 70 liver transplants have been performed.
 * Since 1968, 114 kidney transplants have been performed.