Friends league spends £98k on hospital equipment

The power tools are so old that they are constantly breaking down, the general committee of the League of Bexhill Hospital was told last Thursday. Three Conquest operating theatre staff gave the committee a presentation in support of an 84,870 bid by Hastings and East Sussex Hospitals Trust for six sets of new tools. Sterilisation of operating theatre equipment was centralised at Eastbourne following closure of the Conquest plant by the Trust. Now, key surgical tools are taken four times a day from Hastings to Eastbourne for sterilisation. The charity was told that on occasions operations have to be delayed because the lorry is held up in traffic. Committee members were shown ageing cordless power drills and their attachments. Many Bexhill patients undergo surgery at the Conquest, the town's nearest acute hospital. The meeting was told that up to 10 joint replacement procedures a day are undertaken at the Conquest, which recently undertook 12 hip replacements in three days. At the suggestion of chairman Stuart Earl, the Bexhill league agreed to fund two sets of new power tools at a cost of 28,290. The item was among a total of 98,439 worth of equipment agreed at themeeting. The Bexhill league is giving 15,780 for the purchase of 12 Alaris intravenous infusion pumps for the cardiac unit at the Conquest. It is spending 25,050 on buying two Gem 4000 blood gas analysers for the Conquest delivery suite and Tressell Ward. The devices measure oxygen and carbon dioxide in patients' blood. It is investing 7,510 on an ultra-sonic bladder scanner which will measure urine retention in men suffering prostate problems. A 5,143 league gift will buy an Ultrafin Hydraulic Leg Support system capable of accommodating patients weighing up to 800lbs after hearing from critical care unit director Dr Nick McNeillis that hospitals were now having to treat patients weighing over 50 stones. The system will reduce the risk of operating theatre staff suffering back injury. The committee agree to pay one-third of the cost of a balloon pump, a potentially life-saving device which can keep a heart attack victim's heart pumping. At present, the cardiology department at the Conquest does not have a pump. The meeting decided to defer consideration of a request for a 7,510 replacement electro-cardiograph machine for the Outpatients' Unit at Bexhill, pending further information. The charity bought a similar machine for the unit last summer. It also deferred consideration of an 86,650 bid for a Medisoft ophthalmology system to be based at Bexhill as a central point between the Conquest and Eastbourne hospitals. Dr MCNeillis advised that negotiations between the Trust and the Primary Care Trust over staffing for the system were incomplete. The committee will reconsider the request in September. The meeting rejected a request for 66,384 worth of radiographic equipment for the Conquest accident and emergency unit after hearing that replacement of the present ageing equipment was a priority case for NHS funding.