Welcome
to the League of Friends of Sevenoaks Hospital
2026 Annual General Meeting
Please mark Thursday June 11, 2026 in your diary for this year's Annual General Meeting
Friends appreciation of long-serving staff
The Friends are very sad to be saying farewell to four long term members of staff being transferred to other hospitals within the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust.
Between them Pat and Lizbeth, both receptionists and Sandy and Surah, healthcare assistants, have been looking after patients and visitors at Sevenoaks Hospital for a total of 60 years!
All four ladies were presented with gifts by committee members as a token of our appreciation and we wish them every success in the future.
Backwards and Forwards Pre-AGM
As we prepare for our AGM on June 11 we’ve taken a look at life at the hospital 70 years ago, fairly soon after the birth of the NHS in 1948. Eight years later, in June 1956 the Friends agreed to bear the costs of the installation and rental of the mobile telephone unit (trolley). Gifts were received of a bagatelle board and ping pong table for the nurses. On 13th of the month the charity held a fete which raised £60 (worth over £1300 today) on the Hospital stall.
Staffing at the hospital remained a problem with nurses leaving to change posts, to marry, leave the district and because of domestic problems. The visiting committee observed that new lights had been installed on the wards and from a dietary point of view everything was satisfactory: “All patients spoken to, well pleased”. The decorations in the children’s ward were “very attractive” but previously it was noted that the rocking horse needed a new mane and tail!
The report added that the kitchen garden was in “good order” and commented: “The new trees are growing very favourably.” The new sewing machine in the sewing room was “eminently satisfactory”. But on June 18 the committee also reported draughts on the balconies in the women’s and men’s wards and redecoration and cleaning of the paintwork was needed. Regrettably newspapers were still stuffed in one window and the state of the main hospital corridor was causing concern. “Its present appearance is no credit to the hospital, as the colour is dull and around Casualty the paint is chipped and flaked in places”.
During the month the average number of occupied beds was 67.9 and there were 130 discharges (including deaths) The radiodiagnostic department dealt with 904 examinations and examined 1840 units. There were 818 casualty attendances plus 106 operations up from 76 the previous month .Clinics covered included general medicine and surgery, gynaecology, psychiatry, dermatology, ENT and Opthalmic. Orthopaedic had the most cases with 222 and dental the least with 19.
New equipment helps patients
Over recent months the Friends have as usual been busy helping the hospital as usual and have provided equipment worth £11,373. The centrepiece is a Shockwave Therapy machine which uses non-invasive high-energy sound waves to help stimulate healing in injured tissues.
This new equipment is invaluable in helping the physiotherapy department offer high-quality care to our local community.
It is particularly effective in treating chronic tendon and soft tissue conditions such as shoulder injuries (rotator cuff tendinopathy), tennis and golfer’s elbow, heel disorders and more.
By delivering high-energy acoustic waves the machine can help stimulate healing, reduce pain, and improve mobility, improve tissue regeneration, and enhance blood circulation. Often used when other conservative treatments have failed, it provides an alternative to more invasive treatments, such as surgery or steroid injections.
We have also provided three sets of anatomical models for the Urgent Treatment Centre (UTC). These three dimensional prototypes are to help explain to patients what is wrong with them and demonstrate conditions such as the location of fractures.
There are three sets including for senses including Ear, Eye, Nose and Skin; for Hand and Foot; and for joints including Shoulder, Hip, Knee and Elbow.
Another item we have donated is a reclining chair for the paediatric audiology (hearing services team). This is to assist children have their hearing tests particularly the very young or those with additional needs.
CPR equipment saves lives
Sevenoaks Hospital League of Friends has donated a new defibrillator now located outside the outpatients department to replace the one stolen in April.
Friends Chairman Colin Ullmann-Jones said: “The League of Friends of Sevenoaks Hospital has great pleasure in providing a new life-saving machine. This free-to-use medical device delivers an electrical shock to the heart of someone who is in cardiac arrest and is available 24 hours a day“.
The cardiopulmonary resuscitation equipment was also displayed at our AGM by the Sevenoaks CPR Charity which gave a short presentation by volunteer Tim Hall. The charity aims to provide free first aid, CPR and training in using defibrillators and is very keen to maintain excellent access to them.
CPR members have been regular guests at our annual general meetings always stressing the prime importance of having this life-saving equipment to hand and the Friends are delighted to help!
More about our Annual General Meetings and information
This year's Annual General Meeting is on Thursday June 11, 2026 in your diary for Last year's AGM was held on June 5, 2025 in the Outpatients Department of Sevenoaks Hospital. Friends and visitors were served a hot cup of tea or coffee with biscuits from the tea room first.
Click these links for the papers Chairman's report Agenda 2024 Minutes
The 2024 meeting included refreshments with hot drinks served from our ever-popular tea room on a lovely sunny June evening.
The Chairman's report is below giving details of activities during 2023 and the first part of 2024. We were pleased to welcome the Deputy Chairman of the District Council Cllr Linda Harrison, the Town Mayor Cllr Libby Ancrum, and Chief Executive Officer Kent Community Health Foundation Trust (KCHFT) Mairead McCormick.
Mairead explained about the difficult decision made to close the hospital's in-patient beds because of concerns following a fire safety audit of evacuation on the first floor.
We have now received more up to date information about this so please follow the link to https://www.kentcht.nhs.uk/community-health-online/changes-to-services-at-sevenoaks-hospital/
Chairman's report Minutes 2023 Agenda
Garden delights hospital users
The Hospital garden outside the Urgent Treatment Centre (UTC) is proving very colourful this summer!
Friends' newsletter highlights recent work
Here is our most recent newsletter which gives details of our invaluable work. We hope you enjoy reading it.
It's also that time of year when we request subscriptions and donations! We can now accept them by sending a secure link to your mobile phone enabling donations to be made by card payment. If you would like to donate in this way please email info@lofosh.org.uk
for details. If at all possible please consider making a ‘Gift Aid’ donation. You can download a Gift Aid form here Gift Aid Form Otherwise donations should be sent by cheque to; The League of Friends of Sevenoaks Hospital, Hospital Road, Sevenoaks, TN13 3PG.
Tearoom goes from strength to strength
The tea room at Sevenoaks Hospital continues as the main focus and fund raiser for the League of Friends enabling us to provide little extras to benefit patients and staff. Do come along if you are visiting the hospital or nearby and enjoy our selection of refreshments in this warm and cosy place.
You will find a variety hot and cold drinks including various types of tea, coffee, cappuccino, sandwiches, sausage rolls, packet soup and cold drinks. Cup cakes prove ever popular....Snacks include healthy options, croissants, chocolate, and old favourites such as bakewell tart and eccles cakes. Our volunteers have undertaken food hygiene training and the café has been awarded a five star rating. You can also enjoy a friendly chat when you come to see us in the outpatients building or are visiting the Urgent Treatment Centre (UTC) or the ward.
There's a wide selection of second-hand books as well which are always extremely popular. We also sell some good quality greetings cards and wrapping paper. Christmas cards in ten colourful were again in demand during the festive season. Our hot drinks machine continues to provide a valuable service in the main building as does the vending machine with drinks and snacks again with healthy options.
To help younger people we are in the process of providing blood testing equipment (a Transcutaneous Bilirubinometer) for midwives to check if babies have jaundice. We are also giving distraction boxes for children in waiting room in the UTC with wipe clean drawing equipment and toys. The idea is to keep junior patients and toddlers busy while waiting to be seen making life easier of youngsters and parents alike.
We continue to support major projects and provide plants for the garden and have given a DVD player for the emporium we helped refurbish to assist dementia patients.
You can find out more about our work by visiting www.lofosh.org.uk and donations are always gratefully received. For more details email info@lofosh.org.uk
Thank you to everyone who bought or sold our our colourful range of Christmas cards. They were available in our cafeteria at Sevenoaks Hospital outpatients and other local outlets. To find out more you can download this PDF and you can see colourful pictures of each of the 10 pictures on our Seasonal focus page.