Christmas is fast approaching, with just a few weeks to go, and the East and North Hertfordshire Hospitals’ Charity is preparing to launch their campaign to raise some money and bring some festive cheer into their hospitals.

The Covid pandemic has meant that hospital staff in the trust and throughout the UK have had to work even harder, not only to treat patients with Covid but also to help clear the increasingly large backlog. In June 2022, across the entire health service in England, there were over 46,000 estimated nursing vacancies according to NHS statistics, a 21% increase from the previous year.

In order to help support the hospital staff post-pandemic during the festive season, the charity is asking for people to send baubles to them with handwritten messages so that they can be hung on Christmas trees in Hertford County, Lister, Mount Vernon Cancer Centre and New QEII hospitals, as well as to make donations. The staff, who usually have to take care of around 1,000 patients over the Christmas period, will be under extra pressure as a result of the cold weather and flu.

Tess Thorpe, Philanthropy Manager for the charity, said, “We are hoping that lots of baubles will come back and we will be displaying them in the main entrances of our 4 hospitals for visitors to see.” The money raised from donations will be put towards various projects to support the trust. These include creating outdoor spaces, providing toys and games for children in hospital and funding extra medical equipment.

To find out more about the charity, visit www.enhhcharity.org.uk/appeal/deckthehalls