Cancer patient buys chemo machine... for £175 on eBay
WHEN Steve Brewer was told his hospital couldn’t afford the best chemotherapy machines, he thought he’d see if he could help.
So the cancer patient logged on to eBay, and to his astonishment, discovered one of the £3,400 pumps was available for just £175.
Since snapping it up he has found another six for about £100 each, saving the hospital a small fortune and helping fellow patients.
The NHS has been accused of squandering taxpayers’ money by forking out extortionate sums for items that can be bought for a fraction of the cost over the counter.
Mr Brewer said: ‘There must be loads of these second-hand machines. They must go somewhere. It could save hospitals hundreds of thousands of pounds.’
The 62-year- old, from Peterborough, was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2014 and has gone through 25 rounds of chemotherapy, which is keeping the disease at bay.
During his first round at Peterborough City Hospital, a nurse mentioned the need for more triple pump machines, which administer the drugs faster than single-pump versions.
From his hospital bed, the retired tech worker visited eBay on his phone and discovered a model was being sold by Southampton Hospital.
‘One popped up on eBay for £175,’ he said. ‘The triple pumps cut 30 to 40 minutes off each treatment – it literally gives you half an hour of your life back each time.’
Chemo sessions normally take more than four hours with a single pump. Peterborough’s oncology ward had 26 bays for treatment but only ten triple pumps.
Father-of-three Mr Brewer, who also has two grandchildren, found half a dozen more of the machines on the auction site and crowdfunded Initially, they because couldn’t they £900 hospital were to use pay second-hand. staff the for machines told them. him Angelo But he Cuenca and chemotherapy persuaded manufacturer nurse Baxter to re-commission the pumps for free, allowing the hospital to use them for five years. Mr Brewer, who still has to use the machines every other week, said: ‘There was a bit of red tape. It took a while but we persevered. The machines difference added: hospital ‘I’m and this hoping they would needed knew the make.’ idea what those will He a catch Linda on Nkhata, at other hospitals the hospital’s now.’ chemotherapy day unit manager, said they were ‘incredibly grateful’ for Mr Brewer’s intervention. She said: ‘The pumps cost £3,400 each to buy new, which would be a massive outlay for the trust. ‘However, to have seven of them donated has made such a difference.’ Last week it emerged the NHS had paid more than £1,500 for a pot of moisturiser that was available elsewhere for £2.
BCM Specials, which was owned at the time by Boots’ parent company Walgreen Boots Alliance, sold the 500ml tub of the ‘specially mixed skin cream’ for £1,579 in 2016. The firm claimed the ointment was tailor-made but experts said the ingredients were cheap.