Staff at Uckfield Community Hospital have praised members of the town’s Cinque Ports club for their hard work in raising over £5,000 to buy new medical equipment.
Thanks to their efforts patients on Harlands Ward are now benefitting from two new state of the art beds, as well as a specialist machine to analyse blood samples.
Ward manager Caroline Stacey says:
"We were delighted when members of the Cinque Ports club approached us to offer to raise funds to buy new equipment to help us give patients the best possible care.
We originally asked for one new hi-tech bed, but the club members decided to aim high and collected enough cash for two!
The new beds are now being used, and because they have special air-mattresses they are much more comfortable for patients and also reduce the likelihood of bedsores developing.
We can also raise and lower the beds, and tilt them, at the touch of a button so that we can give patients personal care, such as washing, much more easily."
The donation of £5,500 from the Cinque Ports club has also paid for a special device which can test how thick someone’s blood is in a matter of seconds.
Without the machine, many patients who receive Warfarin therapy for a range of heart conditions would need to have their operations performed elsewhere as staff at Uckfield would not be able to fully assess their risk of bleeding after surgery.
Cinque Ports Chair, Viv Cottingham, and Treasurer Bob Penfold, say:
"It took us about 18 months to raise the funds through a range of activities including raffles, auctions and a sponsored slimathon.
We also received generous contributions from local businesses which ranged from cash donations to giving us prizes for raffle winners.
The club committee were great sports as well, agreeing to go in the stocks during our annual fun day to help fill the coffers.
But none of this would have been possible without the fantastic support of all the club’s members and staff.
Special praise should also go to Patrick Chapman, one of our members, who really worked his socks off to get the money coming in.
It was his idea to aim for two beds instead of just one!"
The Cinque Ports club was established 32 years ago and has around 2,000 members.
The club works to raise cash for a local good cause every year
