7/7 survivor celebrates Burns Appeal success

7/7 survivor Davinia Turrell today announced that a fundraising appeal by Chelsea and Westminster Health Charity to raise more than £100,000 for the Burns Service at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital has reached its target less than six months after its launch on the fifth anniversary of the London bombings.

Davinia said: “I was honoured and excited that Chelsea and Westminster Health Charity asked me to help publicise their Burns Appeal because I know that burns can have many lasting psychosocial effects on people, no matter the size and location of their injuries and scars.

“When I was treated at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, I had help from a post-traumatic stress counsellor but there wasn’t a dedicated psychologist attached to the Burns Service. I think it is wonderful that the Burns staff are striving to increase the already excellent quality of care that they provide to their patients.”

The success of this appeal is an early Christmas present for the 500 new patients who are treated by the Burns Service at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital every year. It is the only Burns Service in London providing specialist burn care for adults and children with complex burn injuries.

Thanks to the generosity of donors, an additional Clinical Psychologist will now be recruited specifically to ensure that all burns inpatients receive psychological assessment so that any potential psychological issues can be addressed early on, which will help with the recovery process.

Mr Greg Williams, Burns Service Lead at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital said:  “On behalf of the entire Burns Service, I would like to express my gratitude to all those individuals, including many former patients, who have so generously donated to the Burns Appeal.

“We will now be able to appoint an additional psychologist for a two-year pilot project to demonstrate the benefits of screening patients to identify potential psychological issues, address them early and help with recovery.”

Gary Lawson, Chief Executive of Chelsea and Westminster Health Charity added: “We are delighted that the appeal has raised awareness of the excellent work the Burns Service provides for the patients it cares for, and we are extremely grateful to more than 500 donors, both former patients such as Davinia and the general public, who have supported the appeal.

“We have now reached our initial fundraising target of £100,000 which will enable the Burns Service to pay the salary of a psychologist for the next 2 years but we would like to encourage people to continue donating to Chelsea and Westminster Health Charity so that we can support the hospital in other ways.”

Donations can be made by visiting www.chelwestcharity.org.uk.