Royal Free Charity

Who we are

We support all Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust patients and staff providing the ‘Little Touches and Big Differences’ to enable them to have the best experience. We do this through providing patient support, fundraising as well as cutting-edge research and equipment.

Patient support is about looking after a patient as a whole and not just treating their illness. Whether it is through the traditional patient support group or by providing complementary therapy massage to help with coping with a condition, we are here to help. We want all patients to feel that they have a ‘friend’ with them when they come to one of our hospitals. Our purple topped Volunteers will greet you with a smile, help you find your way and visit you on the ward if you are admitted and alone and would like some company.

Donations allow us to invest over one million pound per year on new equipment, from the cutting edge to the day to day.

In addition to the smaller items, such as slippers and emergency care packs, we provide larger pieces of equipment for use on the wards and in research. This funding is over and above anything the NHS is required to provide.

By purchasing additional equipment we are able to help reduce patient waiting times for treatment and results. We also fund cutting-edge equipment to increase the diagnostic tools available that will provide patients with the most advanced treatment and help to improve outcomes. Data gathered supports research and development of future treatments and diagnosis.

Research is key to finding better ways of diagnosing and treating conditions and improving the technology and equipment. Our current research projects include finding ways to improve transplantation, using immunotherapy as the new chemotherapy treatment and understanding and treating conditions such as diabetes, dementia, pancreatic cancer and haemophilia.

Our overall ambition is to help patients have the best experience possible while receiving their medical care.

Our culture and values

We are the NHS charity partner of the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. We exist to support our hospitals to go further, faster and deliver more world firsts – for the patients they care for locally, and for the care they can impact globally. 

We focus support on four core areas

• Patients and their families

  We enhance the experience of patients throughout their hospital journey, through the services we provide directly and the programmes and equipment we fund on the wards. From diagnosis to discharge, we’re making our patients’ experience the best it can be.

• Staff

  We support the staff of the Royal Free London to deliver the best possible healthcare. We recognise and celebrate the dedication of our incredible NHS staff and we’re always here for them. 

• Research and innovation

  We support the research community in our hospitals and partner institutes to drive forward innovation and research. We lay the foundations for life-changing and life-saving research, improving care locally and science globally. 

• Equipment and technology

  We propel our hospitals beyond what NHS funding can achieve by securing the best available technology and equipment for our clinicians. By investing in the latest equipment, we facilitate earlier diagnoses and enable life-saving treatment.

Equality, diversity and inclusion policy

As an equal opportunities’ employer, the Royal Free Charity is committed to the equal treatment of all current and prospective employees and does not condone discrimination on the basis of age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, gender identity, or marriage and civil partnership.

We aspire to have a diverse and inclusive workplace and strongly encourage suitably qualified applicants from a wide range of backgrounds to apply and join the Royal Free Charity.