Staff and patients at Nevill Hall hospital are benefitting from the donation of new specialist equipment owing to the hospital’s League of Friends, which has raised over £100,000 this year.

The ophthalmology department has been gifted two eye surgery chairs to the tune of £31,000 and one Ocular Response Analyser which cost £16,000.

Meanwhile, the oral surgery department have been given a new dental chair which cost £10,000 which means that Nevill Hall can care for more patients from the local area and ease the burden on other facilities within the Aneurin Bevan Health Board area.

“The equipment that we (the League of Friends) buy wouldn’t normally be provided so the departments are delighted to receive the specialist equipment that we donate,” said David Hoddy, the President of the League of Friends.

“It’s becoming more and more useful here and the staff are kind enough to come down to the coffee shop when they can and give us their thanks.”

The £103,000 donation that funded the purchase of the new equipment is made up of profit’s from the organisation’s coffee shop in the outpatients waiting area, which is entirely volunteer-led.

The venture started out with a tea trolley in in the late 1960s before moving to an outpatients corridor, and eventually finding their current home inside the outpatients unit in 2003.

Now, with an army of 120 supporters of the League’s cause manning the coffee shop every month, the operation has grown to be able to use its six-figure turnover to support the different departments in the hospital.

“We try to support different departments where we can,” David said.

“We have a series of bids from departments in the hospital in September, and the full committee decides what we will buy for that year, and we try our best to make it specific, specialist equipment which normally wouldn’t be funded by the NHS.”

“Things tend to vary, we have bought heart monitors and communication equipment for nurses and pharmacies so they can talk to one another, stroke chairs and other auxiliary equipment that departments need.”

The League of Friends doesn’t just benefit Nevill Hall hospital, with their help to buy equipment relieving pressure on other areas of the health service as well.

A spokesperson for Aneurin Bevan University Health Board said they were grateful for the League of Friends’ work.

“We are very fortunate that, as a Health Board, we have long-standing arrangements with numerous voluntary organisations such as the Nevill Hall League of Friends, who provide services and raise funds to benefit Nevill Hall Hospital,” they said.

“Over the past two years alone, these funds have allowed us to purchase items such as a bladder scanner; ECG machine; wheelchairs; an Occular Response Analyser; specialist trolleys and chairs, and rehabilitation equipment.”

“These contributions have made a real difference to both our staff and patients across the hospital and we are deeply grateful for the League of Friends’ support in making this possible.”