New medical equipment has been donated to Ashford and St Peter's Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

The trust received a total of 30 syringe drivers, worth £30,000, from the St Peter's Hospital League of Friends.

These are small, portable devices that give medication continuously to relieve pain and other symptoms in patients.

Karen Cook is the lead nurse for palliative care at Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

“Syringe drivers are commonly used in palliative and end-of-life care to provide medication over 24 hours when patients are weak and have difficulty swallowing,” she said.

“Caring for a patient at the end of their life is about keeping them symptom free and as comfortable as possible and syringe drivers can enable us to do this.

“The combination of drugs given to each patient is different depending on their symptoms – we can give medicines to counteract nausea and vomiting, for pain or to reduce anxiety.

“We are very grateful for the friends’ donation as it has enabled us to replace all of our old syringe drivers within a year, which will improve patient care and safety.

“The new machines are light, portable and lockable, which means we can discharge some patients home with a device in place.”