VALLEY FEATURE A


Lorraine Golds- borough


with some of the


redundant equipment from


Clitheroe Comm­ unity


Hospital which is heading


for Sierra Leone


i f ■k\ Lorraine


loads up a container


of redundant equipment


l?SAFE


from Clitheroe


Communit y Hospital, headed for Sierra Leone


'" f i ‘fiiSISS p i - V v; > I 1 ‘• * i ' ^ >


Community Hospital is being put to good use in one of Africa's poorest countries. Community Matron


R


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Lorraine Goldsborough was determined to make good use of the no-longer-needed equipment which was being replaced at the Clitheroe hospital and at Accrington Victoria community hospital. Over several years she had


built up strong connections with a rural hospital in the poverty-stricken West African state of Sierra Leone, which was torn apart by civil war for 10 years. Lorraine, who helps run a


edundant health equipment no longer needed at Clitheroe


by Duncan Smith


team of community nurses, knew the equipment could be put to good use there, so she


helped to pack a 20-ton container load, ready to ship


to to Sierre Leone. "1 got involved about three


years ago when I went out as a nurse during my holidays to help build up a health skills training centre," said Lorraine,


who lives in Barley. "1 came back to East


Lancashire and raised sponsorship for 20 children to have an education. Families


KtSs ' 0&


from Burnley, Pendle, Hyndburn and the Ribble Valley came forward to help and It grew from there. "Now, there are a hundred children being sponsored at


£10 a month by 100 local families-and there's even a


waiting list for the sponsorship programme known as 'Kids In Kailahun and now a registered UK


charity." Lorraine, who works for me


community health service arm


of NHS East Lancashire, added: "When I heard that old equipment was being replaced


in Clitheroe Community Hospital and at Accrington Victoria Hospital, I asked if it could be stored and then sent


Africa aid


out to Sierre Leone instead of it just being scrapped. "The charity involved


agreed to pay for its transportation and I was delighted when NHS East Lancashire agreed to the plan.


We have now filled the container, which is on its way to Tilbury Docks, before being shipped out to West Africa. The hospital gear, which


was stripped out during major refurbishment programmes at


both hospitals, includes 10 hydraulic beds, cabinets, tables, footstools, a drugs trolley and nurse station desk, as well as 60 stacking chairs. These will be used in the


African hospital's outpatients section, so that the patients


will no longer have to simply squat on the floor. In addition, four oxygen


concentrators and a batch of dressings have been donated by two health companies. Lorraine will be going out at


the end of November to oversee the delivery of the equipment, which will have to be stored in the country's capital city before the "dry season" makes the roads passable to the Kailahun district, where the hospital is


located. "It's a 200-mile journey and


the roads are pretty bad at the best of times," she said. "However, when you see


how great the need for the equipment is, and the


gratitude of the hospital staff and patients, it makes it all worthwhile." Lorraine's boss, Val


Carman, who is NHS East Lancashire's Community Health Services Director, said; "Lorraine's commitment is there for all to see. Here in East Lancashire she plays a key role in looking after those patients with long-term


conditions. "In her private time, she has


this passionate commitment to help people in Sierre Leone. To make good use of redundant furniture and equipment from our two community hospitals makes such good sense. We're delighted to play our part."


u


Some of the


children in Kailahun


who have already


benefited from


sponsor­ ship by Ribble Valley


families. f rT a? :• - ■ L a 5k


Lorraine sees for herself what is required as she visits the maternity ward at the hospital in Kailahun.


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