02 August 2012
The Rotary Club of Jersey has recycled medical equipment no longer used in the Island by sending it to a South African based charity called Abundant Life.
The type of medical equipment sent to Abundant Life - known as syringe drivers - are small electrical pumps that automatically deliver a prescribed quantity of palliative medicine at set intervals without the need for a nurse. In Jersey and the UK all hospices and hospitals are required to replace their existing units with models which comply with the latest medical and other regulations.
Jersey General Hospital, Family Nursing and the Hospice have donated all 17 of their redundant devices and John King of the Rotary Club of Jersey has taken them to the UK. From there the devices will go on to Cape Town, where, because of the cost of them, which is about £1000 each, they have been unaffordable before this initiative.
The project was first started by Rotary Clubs in the UK working with the Rotary Club of Claremont, Cape Town. Rotarian Pam Staley led the initiative here in the Island.
She said “Those who have donated these syringe drivers to us are delighted to see this redundant equipment going to such a good cause. All at the hospital and in Jersey can take immense satisfaction from knowing that the money spent on these devices has achieved a double benefit, first in Jersey and now in the reuse of them in South Africa”.
Gary Kynman from Jersey General Hospital said “Changes in technology and innovation in medical technology can, on occasion, render equipment that still has working value redundant. To find such a worthwhile cause to make use of our old syringe drivers is a real bonus. It’s good to know that patients in South Africa will benefit from their continuing use.”
gov.je