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Sheffield Teaching Hospitals donates medical equipment to Ethiopia

A 20ft shipping container packed with outdated medical equipment donated by Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is making its way to help patients in Ethiopia.

For the past 11 years the Trust with local charity Sheffield Health Action resource for Ethiopia (SHARE) have been working with partner hospitals in Mekelle in both clinical and technical aspects of patient care and in hospital management and research. As well as training staff, the Trust has also donated equipment that is no longer needed, medical and nursing textbooks and other vital supplies.

This year, ultrasound machines and baby resuscitaires previously used in the Jessop Wing are being shipped over, along with vital signs monitoring equipment for children and adults.

Teams of Sheffield Teaching Hospitals’ clinical engineers have visited Mekelle during the past 4 years to train and assist the local technicians in the use, repair, maintenance and management of their medical equipment.

Simon Temple, Senior Clinical Engineer at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The benefits of this partnership are already seen in improvements in infection prevention, in patient care through staff training and in the implementation of an equipment management system within the hospitals in Mekelle.
It is a pleasure to see the way the equipment benefits the people in Mekelle. They don’t have the same level of technology we are used to in hospitals in the UK so our donations are really appreciated and make a huge difference to the local people’s health. Our staff enjoy working with the staff of the hospitals and benefit personally and professionally from the opportunity to work in this interesting and challenging environment.”

Sending this container also offered the opportunity to include educational supplies for the school at a local orphanage, sewing machines to a training centre for destitute women http://www.mumsformums.com/ and football boots donated by Sheffield Football Club. http://www.bootsforafrica.org/

For further information
Anne Russell, Chair of SHARE can be contacted on (07776) 347-089

Or visit: http://sharesheffield.org.uk