NHS staff take on Three Peaks Challenge for West Herts Hospitals’ charity

Eight adventurous colleagues from West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust are taking on Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Mount Snowdon to raise money for new equipment at Watford General Hospital.

The ‘Three Peaks Challenge’ is about speed as well as strength and resilience.

Teams taking this on are expected to climb each peak within 24 hours, covering 23 miles and more than 3,000 metres – some of it in the dark.

The team taking on the Three Peaks Challenge to kick-start this appeal are: Andrew McMenemy (Chief People Officer), Adrian Ball (Divisional Manager for Women’s and Children’s Services), Aimee Venner (Divisional Manager for Surgery, Anaesthetics and Cancer), Don Richards (Chief Financial Officer), Louise Halfpenny (Director of communications), Paddy Hennessy (Director of Environment), Rodney Pindai (Deputy Chief Financial Officer) and Simon West (Divisional Director Surgery, Anaesthetics, Cancer).

They have set themselves a target of £10,000 and have already raised £9,600.

The challenge takes place this weekend (July 17, and July 18) and their fundraising page - Peaky Blunders - closes at the end of July.

Andrew McMenemy said: “Delivering the best care to our patients is what is driving us.

"A new purpose-built interventional radiology suite would mean we can save people, including children, from travelling to other hospitals for this transformational way of being treated.

"We hope that our efforts get the fundraising for this great cause off to a fantastic start.”

Every penny raised will help to support a new interventional radiology suite.

Interventional radiology is a minimally invasive procedure, performed by highly skilled doctors, to diagnose and treat various diseases and illnesses, including cancers and also medical emergencies.

The trust provides some interventional radiology at present but currently shares its space and equipment with other services.

This limits the volume and range of interventional radiology procedures that are carried out and so means that some patients have to travel further away for treatment or are treated using methods which can take longer to recover from.

The plans for a purpose-built interventional radiology suite include a specialist paediatric facility which will enable children and their families to receive specialist support closer to home in west Hertfordshire.

Raise, the charity for West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust, is launching a major appeal later this year to buy the equipment.

If you'd like to support or donate to Raise, click here.