Annex A > Chapter 16 - Support and Counselling > The Bristol and South West Children's Heart Circle > The posts of Helen Vegoda and Helen Stratton
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The posts of Helen Vegoda and Helen Stratton
80 The Heart Circle played a major role in the development and funding of the posts of Mrs Vegoda and Miss Stratton. Mrs Pratten stated in her evidence to the Inquiry:
`In about 1986 Dr Joffe approached me about setting up the post of Family Support Worker based at Bristol Children's Hospital. The Heart Circle agreed to fund the first year's salary (£15, 000) and then £5, 000 per annum over the next three years.
`Helen Vegoda was appointed and the Heart Circle set up her office in the Bristol Children's Hospital.' [101]
Asked about the Heart Circle's annual income at that time, she estimated it would have been £50, 000-£60, 000. [102]
81 Mrs Pratten stated that with the assistance of Julia Thomas:
`In 1990 a further post was set up in the BRI for Ward 5, namely that of Cardiac Liaison Sister. There was an obvious need for a suitably qualified nurse on the unit to whom parents can turn to discuss their anxieties and receive good information. Helen Stratton was appointed on a three-year contract, later extended by six months, which was fully funded by the Heart Circle at a total cost of over £70, 000. The management of this post was under the Unit, but again it did not fit into any established structure.' [103]
`It was always understood that when Helen Stratton's contract terminated the post would be taken over by the NHS but this was not to be. I was very concerned that all the experience and knowledge that had been gained by Helen's work would be lost. I therefore approached Dr Freda Gardner, Consultant Clinical Psychiatrist and Senior Lecturer in Mental Health, and commissioned a report on the "Needs of Children with Heart Conditions and their Families" because I was devastated that there was no longer a designated sister on the Unit.
`Dr Gardner's document [104] was produced in 1995 and Professor Angelini charged the Heart Circle £11, 000 for Dr Gardner's time. [105]
`The Heart Circle again agreed to fund the post of Cardiac Liaison Sister and this proved so successful that after six months the funding was taken over by the NHS. The report had made the precise needs of families more explicit and this contributed to the increased acknowledgement by senior medical and managerial staff that such a post was vital.' [106]
83 Mrs Pratten told the Inquiry that when the paediatric cardiac service was united at the BRHSC, the UBHT would not allow the Doppler machine, part funded by the Heart Circle, to be transferred to the BRHSC as it was being used for research. The Trust offered the Heart Circle £4, 000 in respect of their financial contribution.
84 Mrs Pratten wrote to Mrs Rachel Ferris, General Manager of the Directorate of Cardiothoracic Serices, UBHT, on 6 November 1995:
`... you give a total amount of £4, 000 with no breakdown and I have not been given an inventory of what has been taken up to BCH and what remains on Ward 5. I should be grateful, therefore, if you could indicate how this £4, 000 is made up and what percentage relates to the echo machine. When it was purchased, the Heart Circle donated £25, 000 ...
`This information will have to be supplied to the Charity Commissioners, who in 1994 expressed their concern to us about the purchase of equipment for hospitals.' [107]
85 Mrs Ferris replied to Mrs Pratten on 5 December 1995:
`Professor Vann Jones and I are keen to acknowledge the huge commitment made by you and the Heart Circle in paediatric surgery at the BRI over the last 23 years. We know that the equipment that you have purchased totals many many thousands of pounds, and that the purchase of equipment has been just one aspect of the support you have given. It would be helpful if you would let me have a list of some of the things that you have done so that they can be included in our presentation.' [108]
86 Mrs Pratten commented in evidence:
`It was jolly good to get £4, 425 at that stage. They kept saying they did not have the money anyway and eventually it came out of the special trustees and what was done instead of money passing hands, they bought a machine for the new cardiac intensive care in the Children's Hospital.' [109]
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Footnotes
[101] WIT 0269 0003 Mrs Pratten
[103] WIT 0269 0003 - 0004 Mrs Pratten
[104] WIT 0269 0013 - 0066 Mrs Pratten; see also paras 20 and 21
[105] WIT 0269 0005 Mrs Pratten
[106] WIT 0269 0006 Mrs Pratten
[107] UBHT 0225 0010; letter from Mrs Pratten to the UBHT
[108] UBHT 0225 0003, T47 p.62-3 Mrs Pratten