Milton Keynes Hospital consultant cycles more than 1,000 miles to help his patients

A consultant anaesthetist at Milton Keynes Hospital has cycled from Lands Ends to John O'Groats to raise money for a new improved relative's room for the Intensive Care Unit.

Dr Jamie Strachan works in critical care, where there is a relatives’ room just outside the intensive care unit.

Visitors use the room for respite from bedside vigils and it is also used for difficult conversations between families and clinicians.

But the current room is functional but basic and Jamie’s fundraising will go towards transforming it into a well-designed, comfortably furnished non-clinical space for loved ones to retreat to at some of the most difficult and distressing times of the lives.

The remaining funding will be provided by existing charitable funds and donations received by Milton Keynes Hospital Charity.

Dr Strachan said: “When a loved one is critically ill - whatever the circumstances of their illness and recovery - it is a very anxious time for the friends and family, and the ‘rellies rooms’ are not always the calming spaces they ought to be. This is why I am fundraising to improve the space relatives have.”

He completed the unsupported bike ride across the length of the country in 10 days, setting off from Lands’ End and cycling more than 1,696km to John O’Groats.

Milton Keynes Hospital Charity provides items and services that go above and beyond what is possible using standard NHS funding.

For more information or to find out how you could make a difference to patients at your local hospital visit the charity’s website here.