Published on: 29 November 2018

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Pictured (left to right) Diabetes Specialist Nurse Anne Gibson, Miss Mariya Issa, Wendy Higginson, Diabetes Specialist  Podiatrist Peter Reston, DSN Nichola Hughes and Diabetes Specialist podiatrist Gill Lomax.

Miss Mariya Issa, of the Euro Garages Group, today attended the Diabetes Clinic at Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital to see how their significant donation is helping the people of Blackburn with Darwen and East Lancashire.

The Diabetes Specialist Nurses and the Diabetes Foot Specialists demonstrated how iPads and Doppler machines, donated by Euro Garages, are impacting on the service and patients.

Nicky Nuttall, Integrated Diabetes Team Leader said: “Thanks to Euro Garages, we can now see more patients more quickly and provide a higher quality of service.

“The iPads mean we have information at our fingertips giving us more face to face contact time. The new Doppler ultrasound machines enable us to expand our use of this method of examination which is more accurate and less invasive.”

Mariya Issa said: “It is very satisfying to see how our donation is being put to such good use. Diabetes affects such a large number of people and it can be very debilitating. I am glad we have been able to help.’

The Integrated Diabetes Services supports the prevention of diabetes and helps patients and their families/carers to understand and self-manage their condition. Staff are now using the donated Doppler equipment to scan arteries in the patient’s feet.

In the first nine months of 2018, the Inpatient Specialist Diabetes Team treated 1,036 patients while the Trust’s Foot Diabetes Specialists visited 2,232 patients across Blackburn with Darwen and East Lancashire, the majority of who live with Type 2 diabetes. The condition can be controlled through healthy eating, maintaining a healthy weight and in some cases medication.

This donation supports the £1 Million Appeal launched at the beginning of the year by Trust charity, ELHT&Me.

“Generous donations such as this one by Euro Garages make a huge difference for our patients. It means we can improve the hospital environment, buy state-of-the-art medical equipment, fund research and teaching and helping us to go way beyond the NHS standard,” says ELHT&Me Fundraising Manager, Denise Gee.

Individuals and companies keen to support the £1 Million Appeal can visit the ELHT&Me donation page or call the Charity team on 01254 732140 to make a donation.