Basic Healthcare Equipment for Northern Provincial Hospital, Santo Vanuatu

Northern Provincial Hospital is the 2nd biggest in Vanuatu, based in Luganville a small town of ~16,000 on Espiritu Santo the largest Island in Vanuatu. The hospital looks after this population as well as functioning as the referral centre for the smaller single doctor/health worker/rural hospitals dotted around the northern Islands caring for a population of around 120,000 all up. The hospital has an Emergency Department as well as about 100 beds spread out over Surgical (including Gynaecology), Medical, Paediatrics, and Maternity ward (with a basic neonatal care unit). An outpatient service run by healthcare workers and nurses with doctor oversight provides primary care for ~100 patients a day.

The hospital is well run and clean. Beds, and bedding are donated from overseas. Nurses are scant with a lot of the immediate bedside care being done by family with it not being uncommon for 4 or 5 relatives to be in attendance.

During my time there as an Elective Medical Student I found the staff did an amazing job caring for patients and families despite being immensely resource poor. I soon realised the medical ward had a single BP monitor and stethoscope for potentially 30 beds including an High dependency unit (HDU) and Outpatients (OP's) clinic. I then discovered the rest of the hospital wasn't much better with incredibly basic pieces of equipment such as Oxygen saturation monitors, stethoscopes, and appropriate blood pressure cuffs missing, or broken. I thought I couldn't not do anything.

I went around and asked the Doctor's and Nurses to find what items they thought the wards needed most. It was heartbreaking stuff, things that we take for granted in New Zealand, Australia or the UK. Some of the most urgent items are:

- Size appropriate BP cuffs,

- Littman/ADL Stethoscopes,

- Oxygen saturation monitors,

- Thermometers (infra-red/Laser and/or Axillary)

- Cleft lip/Palate bottle teats,

- Infant length measuring board,

- 12 lead ECG machine,

As well as books for the sick children.

If you have suitable, durable second hand medical equipment especially the larger or more expensive items you'd like to donate please get in touch as there are medical students going here on their electives frequently. As well as a container heading to Luganville from a seperate group in NZ who have volunteered some space.