A good turn for kids

Patients from the John Hunter Children's Hospital like three-year-old Gabrielle Tregloan stand to benefit from proceeds of this weekend's annual Hunter United Woodworking and Craft Expo, August 12, 13, 14 at the Newcastle Entertainment Centre.

Expo organisers hope to raise $43,550 to fund four heart monitors for use at John Hunter Children's Hospital and devices used by Kaleidoscope's Child and Family Health Nurses to conduct hearing assessments.

Gabrielle's mum Belinda says her daughter will benefit enormously from funds used to update the current fleet of heart monitors.

“Gabby has a condition that makes her heart beat faster than average and this means she often needs care at the John Hunter Children's Hospital,” Belinda said.

“When Gabby gets something as simple as a temperature, her heart rate rises just like any other child's. The difference for us is that because her normal heart rate is high, the temperature pushes it up to dangerous levels and we need to come to hospital for medical care.

“Monitoring Gabby's heart rate for the first 24 hours is vital. We need to be able to print the results observed by the monitor and send these to her cardiologist based in Sydney,” she said.

The current monitors do not have a facility to print out the results and are best used for children who have cardiac specialists on site who can physically check the results stored in the device's memory. Gabby relies on a monitor that is shared with adult services at the John Hunter Hospital in order to print out the results.

Acting Director for Kaleidoscope in Greater Newcastle Sector Margaret Piper said the generosity of the Woodturners means the monitors in use at the John Hunter Children's Hospital can be replaced with a more advanced system.

“Partnerships with community groups like the Woodturners of the Hunter help us purchase state of the art equipment and ensures we can deliver an even higher standard of care to our patients,” Ms Piper said.

“The new monitors we hope to purchase observe the child's heart rate and oxygen levels, incorporate an inbuilt alarm to notify staff when changes occur, and a facility to print out results for patients like Gabby who have specialists in other facilities,” she said.

Over the past ten years the Woodturners of the Hunter have dedicated an enormous amount of time, skill, passion and commitment to helping patients through a unique association with the John Hunter Children's Hospital Kids Club.

This wonderful partnership has resulted in $385,000 worth of equipment being purchased for patients at the John Hunter Children's Hospital.