THE Ridgeway Hospital in Wroughton is working with a Ukrainian doctor to help deliver tonnes of urgent medical supplies worth £1.4m to the war-torn country.

The private hospital has joined up with the Ukraine Medical Association and British Red Cross to identify what is needed most and where in the Eastern European area while surgeon Sergey Tadtayev and his colleagues gathered 200 pallets of health-related kit from hospitals owned by operator Circle Health Group.

Ventilators, crutches, walking frames, respiratory masks, scrubs, bandages, wound kits, operating tables and other medical supplies have been stockpiled from Circle hospitals across the country and delivered directly to hospitals in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Mykoliav, Odessa and Lviv. Some of this equipment has then been given to community hospitals in those cities.

A team of volunteer haulers from the UK, Poland, and Ukraine has made the journey on a weekly basis since March 15. Circle Health Group has committed to continue the weekly delivery programme for as long as the supplies are required.  

The latest delivery, which arrived on Easter Sunday, contained £185,500 of medical equipment loaded on 35 pallets, including five ventilators, an operating table, patient monitors, suction tubing and chest drainage sets and sterile gowns.  

Dr Tadtayev said: "My heart breaks for my fellow doctors back home who are fighting heroically to care for the sick and wounded – even as the bombs continue to fall.

"Hospitals are struggling to get basic supplies because transport and manufacturing have been so badly disrupted, so I knew I had to do something to help.  

"Moving 100+ tonnes of medical supplies between hospitals separated by thousands of miles and several borders has been an incredible team effort, and I have been overwhelmed by the generosity of my colleagues.

"They are moving heaven and earth to get help to those who really need it on the frontline, and I am humbled by the solidarity and support for my homeland.’  

Circle Health Group CEO Paolo Pieri said: "We’re so grateful to the hundreds of people across the country who have contributed to this effort.

"It’s hard to know how to help in the face of such enormous suffering, but we knew we could provide unique support for hospitals caring for the sick and injured. We are able to understand their exact needs and get targeted aid to them directly in some of the most difficult parts of the country."