Spotlight on Rockinghorse Children’s Charity

Last year was another incredible year for Rockinghorse. The children’s charity celebrated over 50 years of making life better for sick children in Sussex. Best-known for its work with the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital in Brighton, Rockinghorse funds projects to support babies, children and young people.

The charity works in partnership with local hospitals, respite centres and specialist services by funding projects which focus on improving children’s physical and emotional well-being – while providing additional support services for parents and carers.

Through its funding, Rockinghorse strives to make services stimulating, cutting-edge and accessible for the many youngsters who rely on them. As an independent charity, Rockinghorse doesn’t receive any government funding and solely relies on the generous support of local businesses, schools, trusts, community groups and individuals; people like you.

Over the past year, the charity has launched two successful appeals in support of the county’s most poorly babies and children. The support received has enabled Rockinghorse to reach their £100,000 target for the Trevor Mann Baby Unit (TMBU) X-ray appeal this year. Launched at the beginning of 2018, the charity raised funds for a state-of-the-art real-time X-ray imaging facility to help treat premature babies at the specialist neonatal unit in Brighton.

The new equipment will significantly improve the overall experience of a preterm infant, who typically requires multiple X-rays to be taken during their admission. The machine has been developed to provide neonatal staff at the TMBU with an instant X-ray image, allowing immediate modification of lines and tubes on a premature baby. The new digital imaging system will completely revolutionise the way in which staff can treat their tiny patients.

Back in the summer, Rockinghorse launched its ventilator appeal for the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital (the Alex) in Brighton. With an increasing number of young patients requiring ventilation as part of their treatment, the charity committed to providing additional ventilators which will be used by hospital staff in the High Dependency Unit (HDU) to treat the most poorly patients.

Teamed with funds raised at the annual Rockinghorse Ball, the charity raised enough funds to purchase not one, not two, but five additional advanced non-invasive ventilators for the Alex. These will have a huge impact in the critical care of children being treated at the hospital and will ensure that all young patients who require this type of medical treatment will receive it immediately.

The new ventilation systems are the best available and combined with the innovative Optiflow breathing systems (also funded by Rockinghorse), consultants and nursing teams can effectively treat children with respiratory issues. The efficiency of the new ventilators will also result in shorter stays in hospital for young patients.

Whilst fundraising for the bigger appeals, Rockinghorse also funds lots of other smaller projects all over the county. The charity has pledged its ongoing support for Chalkhill Child and Adolescent Mental Health Unit in Haywards Heath – Sussex’s only inpatient unit for young people suffering with mental health illnesses – by funding The Rockinghorse Activities Programme.

Worthing Hospital has been the recipient of new toys and games for Bluefin children’s ward – dedicated to the care of babies, children and young people. They provide a much-needed distraction to patients and siblings as well as providing a more relaxing environment for families to interact away from the main ward and hospital beds. Rockinghorse has also continued its support for the dedicated Play Team at the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital in Brighton, recognising the ever-importance of play therapy in hospital.

This Christmas, Rockinghorse has launched a brand-new appeal and would like your help to improve the post-natal care of newborn babies within the Sussex community. The charity is raising funds for bilirubin monitors to support the Community Midwife and help them detect jaundice in newborn babies during home visits. These monitors will be used by a team of 75 community midwives based at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton and the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath.

Between them they cover 500 square miles throughout Sussex, visiting GP surgeries and children’s centres as well as looking after 6,000 mums and babies every year throughout their pregnancies and births. One of the most serious conditions that the community midwives look out for in newborns is jaundice. This is a build-up of bilirubin and if left untreated, can cause organ failure and brain damage.

Jaundice can be very common in the first few days of life as a baby’s system adapts to life outside of the womb. If a community midwife or support worker suspects jaundice, the current course of action is to refer the baby immediately to A&E for assessment. This is often a day or two after the family have been discharged from hospital.

The baby will have a simple meter reading test to measure bilirubin levels in the blood. While some babies are admitted for further treatment, the vast majority of newborns will have a normal reading and be sent home. However, the whole experience may have exposed mum and baby to a risk of infections and possibly a long wait for a simple procedure.

Rockinghorse has pledged to purchase the same monitoring equipment used by the A&E department so that the Community Midwife Team can carry out post-natal check-ups on new babies at home and in clinics. The bilirubin meters are non-invasive, simple to use and the vital test takes less than a minute. By equipping community midwives in Sussex to carry out monitoring as part of their post-natal care, only babies tested positive for jaundice would be sent to hospital for further tests and treatments.

The charity would be so grateful for your support this Christmas. Visit www.rockinghorse.org.uk to make a donation online, or you can also text ROCK00 £2, £5 or £10 to 70070 to donate via your mobile.