University Hospitals of North Midlands Charity

University Hospitals of North Midlands Charity is the official charity for the University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust, supporting Royal Stoke University Hospital and County Hospital in Stafford. It enhances patient care, staff wellbeing, and hospital services beyond NHS statutory funding, with a vision to make UHNM one of the UK's top teaching hospitals by 2025 and world-class by 2030. Rooted in community gratitude, its core values—compassion, partnership, accountability, innovation, and clinical excellence—drive targeted investments in equipment, research, patient comforts, staff training, and facilities addressing gaps in acute care like cancer, trauma, cardiothoracic surgery, and intensive care.

The charity funds hospital-based innovations, including state-of-the-art medical equipment, advanced diagnostics, research infrastructure (e.g., NIHR centres), paediatric/adult comforts, and community-linked initiatives like the 'Keep Warm, Keep Well' programme tackling fuel poverty for vulnerable discharged patients. Beneficiaries are primarily UHNM patients, families, and staff, with extensions to Staffordshire communities facing health inequalities tied to hospital services.

Eligibility is restricted to Staffordshire-based projects directly linked to UHNM operations, prioritising internal Trust departments, clinicians, and strategic partners; external charities rarely qualify without hospital collaboration. No income/size rules apply, but unsolicited applications are not accepted—funding decisions are adhoc by trustees, aligned with Trust priorities.

Typical grants range from £5,000 to £100,000 for capital, revenue, or project costs, with no open deadlines, application forms, or external rounds. It excludes core NHS funding, unrestricted support, or unrelated activities, distinguishing itself through deep hospital integration, responsive gap-filling, and transformative partnerships yielding measurable impacts like reduced readmissions and trial access.