Supporters help raise over £35,000 to fund new blood analysis service

11th December 2020

Supporters of  Cobalt took part in The Big Give Christmas Challenge – a national campaign of ‘match-giving’ to charity and raised over £35,000 in just 1 week.

Donations to Cobalt through The Big Give website were matched by the Clive and Sylvia Richards Charity, meaning that every donation was doubled. Cobalt are now able to fund new technology to deliver a pioneering onsite service to provide blood tests for patient at the time of their CT or MRI scan, rather than having to arrange the test with the hospital or GP beforehand.

Julia Jenkins, Head of Fundraising for Cobalt said: “The money raised will be used to fund a new onsite service to reduce waiting times for patients, many of whom require urgent scans. We are so very grateful for the support of the public, our loyal supporters and the Clive and Sylvia Richards Charity for the fantastic sum they have given and for being so very generous.”

The Charity can now purchase the point of care blood analyser as well as an AccuVein device to make needle placement quicker and more accurate. This piece of equipment uses infrared imaging to detect veins so the best veins can easily be identified for injections and infusions, helping to improve the standard of care.

Cobalt needs to raise £30,000 each year to enable the service to be run. Tests cost £6 per patient and Cobalt will pay for the tests from charity funds.

Professor Iain Lyburn, Medical Director, Cobalt said “Cobalt is always looking to reduce patient anxiety, which can include concerns over having to attend multiple hospitals and departments prior to their scan. We now have the opportunity to be one of the first to implement technology that will stop cancer patients needlessly waiting for their scan, this is critical to all of our healthcare”.

Anyone who would like to know more about Cobalt’s work should phone the fundraising team on 01242 535922 or email fundraising@cobalthealth.co.uk.