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A child nervous about a needle puts on virtual-reality goggles. A new mother can breastfeed during the night without flooding a shared hospital room with bright overhead light. An older patient who has forgotten their glasses can still read while they recover.
They are very different problems, but at Redcliffe Hospital they have something in common: staff saw something that could be made better, and money raised by the community helped them do it.
Now another round of Raise it for Redcliffe Hospital Wishlist Grants is about to give staff the chance to put forward their next ideas.
Applications open on Monday, 28 September and run until 2 November, with funding available for additional equipment, resources, programs and initiatives supporting patients, families and hospital staff.
What a Hospital Wishlist Actually Buys
The Wishlist program has produced an unusually varied collection of projects over the years.
One grant put Smileyscope virtual-reality technology into the Paediatric Unit, giving staff another way to distract children who may be frightened of needles or medical procedures.
Another tackled something considerably simpler. Maternity staff received breastfeeding night lights so mothers did not have to switch on bright bed lighting during night feeds in shared rooms. Mood-light projectors were also funded to create a calmer environment for women giving birth.
For older patients, Wishlist money has supported the Eat Walk Engage program with everyday items ranging from reading glasses and headphones to hearing-aid batteries and portable DVD players.
There has been more specialised equipment too. Speech Pathology received surface electromyographic biofeedback technology to help rehabilitate people with swallowing difficulties, while more recent funding has included a pneumatic compression pump for Occupational Therapy patients with lymphoedema and an augmentative and alternative communication library for children who have difficulty communicating.
An Idea From Inside the Hospital
That staff-led element is central to the program.
Raise it for Redcliffe describes Wishlist Grants as a way for people working inside the hospital to turn ideas into projects improving comfort and wellbeing for patients, families and staff.
The 2024 round, for example, backed six projects. Maternity and Neonatal Services secured funding for home serum bilirubin testing aimed at improving newborn care while keeping families together. Urology Outpatients received support for UroShield technology for patients managing severe catheter-related problems, while Geriatrics proposed furniture and activity items to make the hospital environment less stressful for older patients.
Previous rounds have also supported a mobile recliner for heart-failure patients and relatives staying beside critically ill family members, a perinatal bereavement booklet and baby bundles containing essentials for new mothers.
Where the Money Comes From
Wishlist Grants sit within the much larger Raise it for Redcliffe Hospital initiative, a philanthropic partnership between Redcliffe Hospital and the RBWH Foundation.
Community donations and fundraising have also paid for research and larger projects such as rehabilitation and palliative-care improvements. By 2024, the initiative had passed $1 million raised and more than 60 projects funded across the hospital.
Its 2026 Giving Day added another $226,227 to that community support.
That broader fundraising has also put equipment into the hospital outside the Wishlist program. The recently installed $52,000 Babyroo in the birth suite, for example, was funded through a Crew Legal campaign and a memorial fundraiser for former Redcliffe Hospital midwife Jenny Stapleton rather than a Wishlist Grant.
From Monday, the focus returns to ideas originating inside the hospital.
The 2026 Wishlist Grant round will remain open until 2 November, beginning another search for the equipment, resources or practical changes Redcliffe Hospital staff believe could make a difference on their own wards.
Published 26-September-2026
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