The team of doctors, nurses and support staff who run the Michael Clements Diabetes Centre at Watford Hospital were delighted today (December 4, 2013) when a new dietetic educational kitchen was unveiled.
The kitchen, one of the first of its kind in the country, has been created and developed to help educate patients with diabetes (a condition in which the amount of sugar in the blood is too high because the body cannot make insulin properly) on the different ways in which they can control their own weight and blood sugar levels.
The £10,000 needed to make this new important facility a reality was donated to the hospital by The Michael Green Foundation, a charity set up by the family of local man, Michael Green, who passed away in December 2012, aged just 53, from a heart attack due to type 2 diabetes.
Following Michael’s death, his wife, Joanne and their 16-year-old daughter Natalia wanted to do something to make people more aware of the dangers that diabetes carries. The Michael Green Foundation has been fundraising relentlessly since June 2013 to raise money and help save lives.
The Michael Clements Diabetes Centre, which opened last year, cares for patients who have diabetes. The hospital sees approximately 2,800 patients a year and approximately 17 per cent of all inpatients in our hospitals have diabetes. The Michael Clements Diabetes Centre employs 15 doctors, nurses and support staff.
The unveiling was attended by friends and family of the Michael Green and Annie Brewster, Mayor of St Albans. They were joined by doctors, nurses and other staff who run the Michael Clements Diabetes Centre, as well as the Trust’s Chief Executive, Samantha Jones.
Samantha Jones, Chief Executive, said: “I’d like to say a massive thank you to The Michael Green Foundation for their kind donation and for helping to open this amazing kitchen. It is a fabulous resource and will really help us in supporting our patients.”
Dr Michael Clements (after whom the unit is named) is a senior clinician at the Trust and specialises in treating diabetes.
He said: “We cannot thank The Michael Green Foundation enough for their tireless fundraising and generous donation.
“The new dietetic kitchen will be extremely important.”
For more information about The Michael Green Foundation, please visit: www.michaelgreenfoundation.org or you can follow them on Twitter: @The_MGF.
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