Business News
A new standard in palliative care
Birmingham Children’s Hospital has started work on a brand new £1 million support centre that is being built within the hospital’s gardens. Magnolia House, the first of its
kind in the UK and funded entirely by charitable donations, will provide a safe-haven for parents and families who have received life-changing or devastating news. The non-clinical, one-storey
building is due for completion later this year, and will be located within ‘Matron’s Garden’ Named after the magnolia
trees found in the hospital’s garden, Magnolia House will set the benchmark for palliative care across the UK, providing care for children and families living with terminal illnesses or those who have complex diagnoses. The building will have private
counselling rooms, a lounge area, a siblings’ play area and a private garden where families can sit and reflect. The roof of the building will be covered with grass and embedded with twinkle lights. Magnolia House will be
somewhere where families can spend as long as they need together, before they feel ready to face the world again. Nicki Fitzmaurice, palliative
care lead at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, said: “The hospital, and the families who come to us, have wanted a space like Magnolia House for such a long time and we are proud to be able to start building this exciting new facility as it will improve the lives of hundreds of families that are delivered devastating news at our hospital every year.” The funds to build Magnolia
House have been raised with the help of the hospital’s near- neighbour Wesleyan, which has committed itself to £750,000 of the £1million total.
New medical business is in the best of health
By Jon Griffin
Zimbabwe-born Andile Siziba took the ‘scary’ decision to end his NHS career at just 28 – to fulfil his dream of running his own medical business. Andile ‘put everything on the
line’ to launch his own Birmingham- based specialist business offering spinal cord neuromonitoring services across the UK to the NHS and independent hospitals –and says it’s the best decision of his life. Mediservices Healthcare aims to
provide clinical excellence and cost- effective services for hospitals dealing with spinal surgery patients. The firm was set up to help meet the growing demand for quality spinal neuromonitoring services amid a severe shortage of neurophysiologists across the UK. The Colmore Row based
company is the brainchild of Andile, who left his homeland of Zimbabwe at the age of just 14 with his parents to build a new life in the UK. He fought his way up the NHS ladder after qualifying as a neurophysiology specialist – but has taken the gamble to go it alone with his own Birmingham business. “The NHS is very controlled and
my personality was not fit for that sort of environment. I had been doing it for six years since 2009 and now I have managed to find a combination of things which enables me to use the best of my abilities,” he said. “I feel I am now working at my
optimum. It is scary, you do not have security, I have a mortgage and a car and financial commitments. But I chose to roll the dice and put everything on the line. I talked to my family and they asked if I was insane but this is something I believe in and
seeking help through the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce’s Start and Grow programme, which aims to help start-up firms realise their dreams. “At Mediservices we pride
ourselves with aiming only for excellence. We have to get the balance right and grow at a sustainable rate which is another challenge. Turnover is growing rapidly and I am looking to see over 100 patients this year. “There was a point where I had to
Andile Siziba: “Scary decision”
‘This is something I believe in and this is the best decision I have ever taken’
I think this the best decision I have ever taken.” After leaving Handsworth
Grammar School with three A- Levels, Andile gained a BSc at Sheffield University and later an MSc in Epileptology at King’s College. He joined the NHS and his career embraced specialist roles at St Peter’s Hospital in Chertsey, the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel and latterly the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. But he had always wanted to
branch out on his own – and launched Mediservices Healthcare in his spare time while still holding down a full-time job. Now he has plans to vastly increase turnover and expand the business after
Dame Esther’s call for help
TV star Esther Rantzen is calling on more people to volunteer for children’s charity, ChildLine, which she founded 30 years ago. Dame Esther – who fronted the BBC TV programme
‘That’s Life!’ for 21 years – made her appeal during a visit to ChildLine’s Birmingham call centre in Hagley Road, Edgbaston, to speak to volunteers. The Birmingham base is the second largest in the country behind London and has around 170 volunteers, but needs more to meet an increasing demand. A total of 333,280 counselling sessions have been
held at the Birmingham centre since it opened in 2001. In the first year there were 5,423 – this had risen to 44,331 in 2014/15. ChildLine was launched in October 1986 after a BBC
14 CHAMBERLINK May 2016
television programme Dame Esther presented on child abuse, ‘Childwatch’, was swamped with calls. Some 23,000 children contacted ChildLine in its first year. Dame Esther said: “It is wonderful to see ChildLine
thrive. The charity saves so many lives and protects so many children from pain but we could not do it without the warmth and compassion of our Birmingham-based volunteers who are so skilled and committed. “It is fantastic to see all our volunteers from so many
years ago. When I ask people why they come back, they say it because being a ChildLine volunteer was such rewarding and enjoyable work. “I have seen the difference ChildLine makes after speaking to many young adults who have used the service when they were children. It gives them hope.”
invest and the Chamber of Commerce helped me so much in taking that step. It is all about getting that business experience, talking to people and trying to get funding. It has been invaluable. “We are targeting hospitals where
it is not viable for them to provide those sort of spinal cord neuromonitoring services or bigger hospitals which are over-booked.” The Start and Grow programme
provides a range of pre and post- start support to individuals looking to start a business. Clients must have aspiration and the capability to make the business a success. The programme is available to
those looking to start a business which expects to employ people from its early stages and where start-up financing will be required to get the venture off the ground. The support provided is tailored
to the individual needs of the owner and the business idea, but will include one to one support and advice, workshops and training, mentoring and help finding funding.
For more information contact Anabela Ferreira, Head of Enterprise at the Chambers, on 0121 450 4235.
Dame Esther with her latest ‘volunteer’, Howard Blow of Birmingham Chamber
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