Nursing Aid’s gifts to Tarbert surgery
Patients attending Tarbert GP surgery will have access to state-of-the-art equipment in their time of need – thanks to a long-running village charity.
Set up almost 70 years ago by Ian Coats, Tarbert and District Nursing Aid Association has been in existence since 1954, with the original stated aim “to assist in cases of hardship with the supply on loan or by gift of nursing requirements or aids which cannot be obtained through the National Health Service”.
Now his granddaughter Amanda Minshall hopes Tarbert Nursing Aid, as it is now better known, will see its mission better understood again amongst the Tarbert and North Kintyre community.
Amanda, Tarbert Nursing Aid secretary-treasurer, said:
“We are trying to raise awareness of our work.
“It was set up to provide nursing aid and medical equipment to allow the surgery to provide a wider range of services for those using the facility.
“My grandfather set it up in 1954 and there is, of course, an emotional connection there, but above all I am keen that it continues to deliver help to the community and make a positive impact.”
Dr Adrian Ward, a GP at the surgery, said: “Some of the equipment we have here you just would not be able to access in a similar-sized surgery elsewhere in Scotland.
“Because of our geography it is unusual but funds received from Tarbert Nursing Aid have made this possible.
“We have a machine which analyses blood samples, testing for blood clots, cardiac enzymes, inflammatory markers.
“We use our ECG machine almost daily, and when used on a patient we can then decide on an appropriate course of further treatment, if required, while administering medication such as aspirin.
“Specialist equipment has a shelf-life, so the kit, for example our ECG machine, has had to be replaced.
“These are triage tools because without them patients would definitely have to go out of the area to be assessed.
“This has a positive, further-reaching effect for often-stretched ambulance crews and the city hospitals which are always busy.”
Jamie Brown, chairperson of Tarbert Nursing Aid, said:
“Tarbert has a long history of community generosity.
“We are looking at alternative funding avenues to the traditional fundraising coffee morning, such as online crowdfunding or a Justgiving page.
“We meet three or four times a year with the doctors, nurses and paramedics in Tarbert to find out what the surgery both needs and what would be ‘nice to have’ if it was possible.
“There is such a dynamic team here and the village and wider community are fortunate to have people of this quality running what is an excellent facility, for the size of the place.
“Anyone who wants to get in touch with the charity can email Tarbertnursingaid@gmail.com”