A hospital in Redditch that has received a full set of new equipment for treating
fractures is donating its old apparatus to a medical centre in west Africa, it has
been reported.
Improvements to trauma services at the Alexandra hospital has resulted
in the old equipment being upgraded to new high-tech titanium products, according
to the Bromsgrove Advertiser.
Instead of sending the previous items for scrap, officials
from the trust decided to transport them to Africa.
They contacted Laurence Read,
a former consultant at the hospital, who is currently aiding a medical centre in
Sierra Leone.
He remarked: "I am trying to help rebuild and improve services to the
local people following the very disruptive civil war in the country ... I was pleased
to be approached."
Titanium's properties – such as it being as strong as steel but
half as heavy – mean that it is useful for a wide variety of medical and patient
handling products as well as in sports, architectural and automotive applications,
notes the Titanium Information Group.
