Hospital names a ward after fundraiser Captain Tom

A HOSPITAL that received £230,000 from Captain Sir Tom Moore’s fundraising has named a new ward after him.

North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust (North Mid) in north London, which was badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic, has paid tribute to Sir Tom by naming its new 20-bed ward after the late army veteran.

The Captain Sir Tom Moore’s Centenary Ward will be used to care for patients recovering from surgery.

North Mid received funding thanks to the efforts of the centenarian, who died at Bedford Hospital on Feb 2 after testing positive for Covid-19.

The ward, which opened last week, was initially going to be called the Centenary Ward, as the hospital celebrates its 100th birthday this year.

But following Sir Tom’s death, Maria Kane, chief executive of North Middlesex University Hospital, said she was inundated with staff asking her to name it after him instead.

The money raised by the 100-yearold Guinness World Record holder has been used to provide emotional and practical support for staff at North Mid, who at one point had 13 wards full of patients suffering from Covid-19.

“We are very lucky because we have been the beneficiaries of a huge amount of money that Captain Sir Tom raised. We were a very hard-hit hospital by

‘We are very lucky because we’ve been the beneficiaries of a huge amount of money that Sir Tom raised’

Covid, both in wave one and wave two. We’re in a pretty deprived area,” Ms Kane said.

She added that the money allowed them to put in place a psychology team for staff who may be suffering from PTSD after they witnessed “more deaths in the last year than they’ve ever had to see”.

The money also went towards ipads to allow families to Facetime their loved ones on the ward.