- Solomon Islands: The National Referral Hospital (NRH) the recipient of charity donations of medical equipment and medical supplies providing huge costs savings.
My partner charity in New Zealand, ‘Take My Hands,’ confirmed to me today that 27 hospital beds for the National Referral Hospital (NRH) are aboard the container vessel ‘Shansi’ which will arrive in Honiara on 14 December.
The latest arrivals will bring the number of hospital beds delivered to the NRH over 135 and in addition to beds; the hospital has received mobility aids such as wheel chairs, walking frames, crutches and walking sticks. Other equipment donated to the NRH has included tables, side tables and hospital furniture. Medical, consumable supplies, have been numerous and included latex gloves
In addition to donations for the NRH, 90 boxes of used footwear and clothing have been received by the Hearts of Hope Charity on Malaita
I express my sincere appreciation to ‘Take My Hands’ for all the help rendered to the Solomon Islands medical services and to Hearts of Hope.
My appreciation also extends to the Chairman and Board members of the Solomon Islands Forest Association (SFA) for the donation of funds to cover freight charges for several of the containers of equipment and medical supplies, including payment of the freight costs for the latest container.
In addition to aiding the Solomon Islands, ‘Take My Hands’ has supplied medical equipment to Tonga, Fiji, Nepal and Pakistan.
Currently, the charity is working with Fisher &Paykel Healthcare (F&P) and the University of Canterbury (NZ) on a project in Tonga called the ‘Pacific-Med Tech Project’.
It was recognized some time ago that several of the health providers in the Pacific, including the Solomon Islands, were in need of some support in fixing and maintaining the equipment they were using. Often if a biomedical engineer was available they were often too busy attending to equipment across the whole country to give the desired attention and servicing to one particular hospital.
‘Take My Hands’ got together with F&P to find a way to help. The solution that came about was to send a team of students, interns employed by F&P on secondment to the Ministry of Health in Tonga to work with the local biomedical team over there. While in Tonga they will fix equipment, do an audit of equipment to help compile a new assets register and maintenance schedule, as well as developing trouble shooting checklists and user guides that will be left in the local health clinics.
The intern’s secondment to Tonga was funded by a Callaghan Grant (NZ).
In time a similar project might take place in the Solomon Islands if thought desirable by the Ministry of Health and Medical Services/NRH.
Yours sincerely
Frank Short
www.solomonislandsinfocus.com
