Just what the doctor ordered (From Warrington Guardian)

Just what the doctor ordered

ON a teaching visit to a hospital in India, consultant anaesthetist Colin Ince found that his counterparts there were unable to afford essential equipment.

One missing item measures the concentration of anaesthetic gases and oxygen entering the patient's lungs. This also enables the doctor to increase the number of anaesthetics that may be given for the same cost, permitting more patients to have surgery.

Colin vowed to help the hospital and back home found willing allies among his friends in the Rotary Club of St Helens.

They set about raising cash to buy the £10,500 machine which would allow local doctors to help themselves, one of the key aims of Rotary International.

So successful was their fundraising drive that the piece of equipment has been purchased and one of the doctors from Ramaiah Hospital in Bangalore was one of 12 placements from India who came over to train with St Helens and Knowsley Hospital Trust working towards professional examinations to enable them to become anaesthetist consultants. During their stay they were taught to use anaesthetic equipment and techniques unavailable in their local hospitals.

To raise funds, members of the Rotary Club of St Helens arranged for these trainees to prepare a meal with authentic dishes from south India while Rotarians and their friends paid to taste these exotic delights. Other cash came from a concert by the Crosby Synphonia Orchestra, members and friends sponsoring an athlete who completed the London Marathon and a Sportsman's Evening.

Support was also received from the Rotary Club of Prescot and everything was co-ordinated with the Rotary Club of South Parade, Bangalore, India.

Colin, Chairman of the Rotary Club of St Helens International Committee and the President of the Rotary Club of South Parade, Bangalore formally presented the anaesthetic equipment to the Chairman of the Ramaiah Hospital in Bangalore. Dr Ince, was able to supervise the initial use of the equipment at the hospital.

The venture proved so successful that the St Helens Rotary Club won the 2003 Jacqui Crompton Memorial Trophy for the best International Rotary Project, beating off stiff competition from 51 other clubs in their district which stretches from St Helens to East Lancashire, including the Isle of Man.