Our charitable status
Since The London Clinic was granted charitable status in
1935, the hospital has been committed to reinvesting its financial
surplus to help improve healthcare for patients.
Reinvesting funds for patient benefit
As a not-for-profit organisation, The London Clinic is able to
continuously invest in the latest medical technology, facilities
and clinical and nursing support.
As the Clinic does not have any shareholders, in the last five
years alone it has been able to invest £64 million in improved
medical equipment and hospital facilities. This means that, unlike
many independent hospitals, the Clinic is able to treat patients
with very complex conditions such as brain tumours and liver
disorders.
Recent milestones achieved through the Clinic’s programme of
reinvestment include:
- the development of some of the most advanced endoscopy facilities in the
independent
sector, treating over 5,500 patients every year
- a new major operating theatre, the Clinic’s twelfth and
largest theatre, opened in November
2005. This has been purpose-built to accommodate robotic
surgery. The advanced,
ultra-clean ventilation system means that it will also be
suitable for major orthopaedic
surgeryas well as all other specialties
- the da Vinci-S® Surgical System.
This second generation in robotic-assisted technology
enables our surgeons to treat prostate cancer by removing
the prostate laparoscopically.
For the majority of patients, this could mean less
pain and blood loss following surgery and
a faster recovery compared to conventional open
surgery
- a newly refurbished, state-of-the-art, eight-bed (level 3)
critical care unit
Advancing medical research
The London
Clinic is actively involved in ethically approved medical research
to improve standards of healthcare.
Our Ethics Committee has granted approval of a significant
number of current clinical trials involving Clinic patients or
their records in areas such as leukaemia and prostate cancer.
All trials must meet the rigorous criteria set by the Ethics
Committee, which includes ensuring appropriate patient information
and consent is in place, in accordance with relevant General
Medical Council (GMC) guidelines.
Critical care research
Training and education for the NHS
The London Clinic is proud to provide NHS nursing and clinical
staff access to its hospital facilities and medical and technical
expertise through clinical placements.
Last year alone, the Clinic provided placements for:
- 30 nursing students
- 20 students in radiology
- 6 students in physiotherapy.
The London Clinic provides all training without charge and all
students trained at the hospital will become NHS employees.
Subsidy for patients in the British Armed
Forces
The London Clinic is working together with
King Edward VII’s Hospital Sister
Agnes to extend its 20% subsidy towards inpatient and outpatient
treatment for Service personnel.
The subsidy is available to all patients
who are currently serving or have previously served in the British
Armed Forces, regardless of rank and length of service, as well as
their spouses, ex-spouses, widows and widowers – extending its
availability to a population of more than 13 million people.
Further information...
New Victoria Medical Foundation (NVMF)
The London Clinic and The New Victoria
Medical Foundation (NVMF) have teamed up to jointly fund the
medical care of NHS patients in need of treatment for conditions,
which though not life-threatening, are regarded as significantly
impairing their quality of life.
The partnership between the recently-created
charity and one of the UK’s leading independent hospitals has been
launched to provide patient-support for the primary treatment of a
non-chronic nature. Further
information...
Helping people to live with cancer
The London Clinic works in partnership with a number of
charities to offer funding for posts, practical support and the use
of its specialist facilities. Cancer
care is an area of particular interest.
Cancerbackup information service is
located in The London Clinic, which is available free of charge to
anyone seeking information on cancer related issues.
A Macmillan nurse, funded by The
London Clinic, is also on hand to provide emotional and clinical
support, information and advice to people living with cancer.
Cancer patients and their families can also use a separate
oncology counselling service
without charge. The majority of cancer patients treated at the
Clinic make use of these
support services.
Cleo Dlomo, the Macmillan Clinical Nurse Specialist, comments
“Many patients living with cancer are faced with a
bewildering range of issues, which can be difficult to cope with.
Every patient has different needs, and I aim to help them work
through any problems they have and provide practical and emotional
support. Providing palliative care not only helps to control
symptoms but means that patients are mentally prepared for
treatment. It really is a rewarding role.”
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Alison Boyd
Macmillan Cancer Information Nurse
Specialist, Cancer Information Centre:
“We have an ‘open door’ policy at the Clinic’s Cancerbackup
Centre and hope that people feel able to ‘pop in’ for advice at any
time. Cancer can raise so many questions for patients and their
families and we want people to feel at ease asking for advice and
information so that we can guide them through the
experience.”
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If you want more information about cancer, please visit the
Cancerbackup Centre on the second floor, call 020 7616 7628
(Monday - Friday, 9am - 4.30pm), or visit www.cancerbackup.org.uk
Bone marrow donation
The London Clinic is
also proud to be the only independent hospital to provide bone
marrow stem cell collection and a harvesting centre for the Anthony
Nolan Trust (ANT).
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The Clinic’s highly skilled medical staff are able to use the
state-of-the-art facilities at the hospital to support the charity
in providing
life-saving donors for patients in need of bone marrow
transplants.
Last year alone, The London Clinic collected approximately 200
donations for the ANT.
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If you are between the ages of 18 and 60 and would like to join
the donor register, please log on to www.anthonynolan.org.uk for
more information.
Dr Mike Potter, Consultant Haematologist / Director, Stem Cell
Transplantation
"The life-saving work of the Trust depends on
finding a 'match' for patients - finding a donor whose tissue-type
is compatible with the patient. Theoretically, anyone could be the
match for one of the 7,000 patients
currently waiting for a transplant. In fact, you might be the only
person in the world with a compatible tissue-type for a patient
with a life-threatening illness.
The ANT has been working closely with The London
Clinic for over 20 years and is delighted to benefit from the
state-of-the-art facilities, medical expertise and world-class
nursing care."