A HOSPITAL support group is celebrating ten years of achievements and outstanding work providing help for patients at Salisbury District Hospital.

The Burns Unit Group Support (BUGS) is an independent charity set up in 2000 by a senior physiotherapist, a Burns Unit sister and a former patient. Since then it has provided extra support and advice to patients from across the Wessex region and now offers services such as hand massages from a qualified practitioner and funding for children to take part in activity breaks at special burn camps.

It has also produced information booklets and videos for adults and storybooks for children and established a quiet room within the unit where patients can get away from the ward environment.

Chairman Jenny Collings said: “It seems hard to believe that we have been providing such a wide range of additional support and help to adults and children with burn injuries for ten years now, so it’s great to celebrate our achievements.

About 300 people of all ages were treated on the Burns Unit last year and because of the scarring and deformity that burns can cause, many return for several years for follow up care.

BUGS aims to informally help them re-build their own self image and give them the mental and physical ability to face the outside world.