Struggle for hospital staff

Members of the League of Friends of Bexhiill Hospital's general committee listened in horror at their meeting last Thursday after chairman Peter Mitchell-Davis revealed the struggle staff are suffering in order to maintain services to patients.

The charity had been puzzled by the absence of the customary requests from the unit for assistance from the league.

Members had also been troubled over a longer period that requests from the Conquest Hospital had far outweighed those from the Bexhill unit.

Requests for aid from the Bexhill and Conquest leagues have to go through an East Sussex Hospital NHS Trust bids process to ensure that they are valid before being put to the charities.

The Bexhill chairman revealed that he had discovered that bids from the Irvine Unit had been submitted to the trust in October and re-submitted in November but had been deemed by the NHS Trust to be "too late" for its consideration in time for last Thursday's meeting.

Committee members voted that, in principle, the league would meet every one of the requests - subject to their being approved under the NHS bids system.

They include:

*Three Genius infrared thermometers - total cost 450

*Two Vital Signs bloods pressure and blood oxygen saturation monitors- 3,600

*Two Tuffsat pulse oximeters - total cost 1,100

*Ten wheelchair armrests - 335

*Four pairs of legrests - 306

*Four stump boards - 196

*Nine assorted wheelchairs - 2,150

*Three Trinova mattress systems - 8,889

Currently, the unit's patient hoist is out of action because of a broken part. If a replacement part cannot be obtained the league is prepared to buy a new Encore hoist which, with slings and scales, will vost 10,416.