HOSPITAL patients in west Africa will benefit from new hi-tech equipment now being used at the Alexandra hospital. As part of continued improvement to trauma services at the Redditch hospital the department has recently upgraded its old nailing systems used to treat fractures to more modern titanium products.

Orthopaedic consultant Karl Bell explained: “This increases the flexibility of the system making it more suitable for difficult fractures and simplifies the equipment used to insert these products. “The upgrade has resulted in the department having a full set of the older instruments and a range of older implants which are no longer required and if not used would be sent for scrap. To resolve this we contacted Mr Laurence Read a former Orthopaedic Consultant at the Alexandra.”

Mr Read said: “Since retiring I have spent some time working in a hospital in Sierra Leone. I am trying to help rebuild and improve services to the local people following the very disruptive civil war in the country.

"Currently I am running a charity to rebuild a school in which I worked prior to qualifying in medicine. I was pleased to be approached and confirm that the nailing system would be of use to the hospital.”

He went onto say a specialist medical equipment supplier has agreed to transport the equipment to Africa. The nails, although no longer available in this country, are available world-wide and future supplies to the hospital can be assured.