In 2022, RBWH Foundation committed $1 million to establish RBWH Foundation WeCU – a two-year program to provide care and comfort to family members with fathers, sons, mothers, and daughters in RBWH ICU.

Any amount you can give will help continue to fund the RBWH Foundation WeCU Family Support Program – caring for families of ICU patients, so they can care for their loved ones at their time of greatest need.

The RBWH Foundation WeCU concierge staff are trained social work assistants who are available to assist families and loved ones, every day of the week. They are based in the ICU waiting room from 8:45am until 8.30pm. If they have been called away during these hours, they can be contacted on 0499 819 959.

This service, located outside the RBWH ICU:

• helps families become orientated with the ICU environment
• provides information, care and comfort
• facilitates communication with a loved one’s health care team
• facilitates accommodation bookings and access to the Patient Travel subsidy support.

The WeCU concierge staff are generously funded by donations provided to the RBWH Foundation.

Every day, patients are admitted to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital (RBWH) Intensive Care Unit (ICU) to receive critical care and life-saving support. It’s an emotionally taxing experience, one that takes a tremendous toll on family members who navigate this unfamiliar, and often upsetting, journey beside their loved one.

Understandably, thinking about their own basic support needs is the last thing on their minds.

Inspired by real experiences and developed in consultation with RBWH and the Foundation team, patients, nurses, and social workers, WeCU's annual running costs are $500,000, meaning that further funding is desperately needed to ensure this extraordinary program continues to touch the lives of those during the most challenging time of their lives.

WeCU supports families emotionally, physically and financially, as well as finding and funding accommodation for those who live remotely – because just being by a loved one’s side can make a world of difference.

The program includes counselling, regular consultations, and a comfortable place to spend time for family members and children of all ages. From the basics such as “Where should I park?” to bigger worries like “Where can I stay?” and “How can I afford all of this?,” WeCU takes care of everything needed to allow families the precious time to focus on what matters most – their loved one.

Your donation will help ensure that the WeCU program continues. Donations can also help support the expansion of other trauma hospitals throughout Queensland and potentially Australia-wide.

Through your generous monthly gift or one-off donation, we can make sure families feel seen and supported through the most challenging times.

Your gift will go towards:

• The refurbishment of an ICU family area that is warm, inviting, private, and comfortable during longer periods of time.
• A new RBWH ICU Concierge Service providing advice and information. This team will be a family’s 'go to' for accommodation advice, food deliveries, and other services.
• New communication technology that lets care staff provide detailed updates to family, and enables video communication between patients and loved ones if they cannot be together.
• Family arrival kits with essential information. 
• Supporting clinician-led research to ensure the program is supporting families and patients and to measure patient recovery times.

While very donation makes a difference, monthly gifts are the most powerful way to help the WeCU Family Care Program continue. Providing vital support to familes and friends of ICU patients when they need it most.