Surgeons at Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust are appealing for medical supplies, including surplus medicine and unused equipment, as part of international humanitarian relief efforts in Gaza.

Mr Eduardo Villatoro and Mr Irfam Akhtar, Consultant General Surgeons, are co-ordinating the Sherwood Forest Hospitals appeal due to an acute shortage of medical supplies in Gaza. The pair were inspired by other NHS Trusts across the UK running similar appeals.

Mr Villatoro said: “Colleagues, Denise Guzdz and Alison Bird from theatres have kindly allowed us to use Theatre 4 as a temporary storage area.

“We are also calling for volunteers to help us co-ordinate the collection, and are inviting wards and offices to raise money through cake sales and other fundraising events for the charity International Health Partners – which is creating emergency health kits to take into Gaza.”

Below is a list of unused and surplus items the surgeons are hoping to collect:
•Medications – painkillers, antibiotics, eye drops
•Surgical equipment
•Theatre items – gowns, gloves, masks, eye shields, sutures, scrub solutions etc.
•Syringes, hypodermic needles and tourniquets
•Wound dressings and dressing packs
•Medical Sheets/blankets, hospital patient gowns
•Intravenous lines and fluid infusion packs.

An Emergency Medical Kit costs £370 to put together and will provide up to 1,200 treatments. For more information about fundraising visit www.ihpuk.org/donate-gaza