From small acts of kindness to huge investments in technology and innovation, the generosity of our supporters means that we have been there for staff and patients when they’ve needed it most.
RFL has long been the home of ‘firsts’, including being the first hospital to train women doctors. Here are just a few of the ways lives are being improved in your local hospital community.
Chemotherapy-related hair loss is often distressing, and, for many, can harm confidence and emotional wellbeing during the already immense challenge of cancer treatment.
In July 2024, thanks to generous supporters, RFL became the first NHS trust in the UK to offer in-house eyebrow microblading to patients with cancer. This is a semi-permanent cosmetic procedure, which creates hair-like strokes on the skin, and lasts for up to three years.
Wendy, from Muswell Hill, was the first patient to receive the service:
“I think going through cancer treatment is such a challenge to anyone’s sense of identity that anything that can be done to retain something akin to ‘normality’ is good to try.
I’m really glad I had the microblading done before chemo, and really grateful for the support from the Royal Free London breast cancer nursing team and the Royal Free Charity.”
Find out more abouto our Winter Appeal which focuses on our range of life-changing hospital-based services.
Photo: Wendy, the first patient to have microblading treatment provided by the charity. Courtesy: Zoe Norfolk
We have awarded a £360,000 grant to establish a new faculty of population health for the Royal Free London and our clinical partner, the North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust.
This initiative, ‘Making Every Contact Count’, encourages healthcare professionals to use daily patient interactions to promote healthier lifestyle choices around diet and exercise, which can be effective in preventing the need for some hospital visits.
In the Spring, the Royal Free Hospital became home to the UK’s first Siemens Quadra PET-CT scanner. This revolutionary machine, that is up to 35 times more sensitive than standard NHS equipment, means patients can now experience faster, more accurate scans, at a much lower radiation dose. Since the scanner become operational in March:
• scanning time has lowered from 20 minutes to just ten
• the typical turnaround for scans, previously 13–14 days, is now just eight
• radiation exposure to patients has reduced by almost 40%.
The scanner is already opening exciting research avenues, with RFL recently becoming the first NHS Trust member of the National PET Imaging Platform (NPIP). In this partnership, RFL will play a key role in advancing large-scale collaborative research, particularly in drug development and testing.
“I am under no doubt the work that we will contribute to as part of our NPIP collaboration will discover new treatments and will help cure people’s cancer and save their lives.”
Peter Landstrom, group chief executive, RFL
As our next investment in pioneering equipment, we need funds for a state-of-the-art surgical robot. This will support people with some of the most aggressive and hard to treat cancers such as those of the colon, liver and pancreas. The new surgical robot will allow more patients to receive minimally invasive surgeries, sooner, with better outcomes, and faster, more comfortable recoveries.
Learn more about the surgical robot or please contact [email protected], we welcome hearing from you.