ANOTHER major 'housewarming' gift has been earmarked for Hereford's new hospital.

The Eveson Charitable Trust is giving £200,000 to buy one of the most expensive pieces of equipment the hospital has put on its wanted list.

The money will be used to purchase a state of the art analyser which will be able to perform blood tests 24 hours a day and 365 days a year.

The £200,000 cheque has brought Hereford Hospitals New Equipment Appeal fund up to £400,000, half way through its two year target of raising £800,500.

Delight

"We are absolutely delighted with this incredible donation, it is excellent news for our appeal, especially in view of the fact that some of our fund raising events have been postponed until next year because of the foot and mouth crisis,'' said Jenny Dereham, chairman of the appeal.

The Eveson Trust is named after Violet Mary Eveson, formerly of Bishops Frome who died in 1993 leaving £47 million.

Her massive fortune was tied up in a trust to help charitable and good causes under the administration of her financial adviser Bruce Maughfling, now of Cheltenham, but who once lived and worked in Hereford.

It is not the first time Mrs Eveson's name has been linked with Hereford hospitals. Before her death she donated £440,000 for a CT scanner giving the County Hospital one of the best of its kind in the country for dealing with cancer, the brain and traumas.

The latest Eveson money will buy an analyser for use in the department of clinical chemistry.

The department provides a service for hospitals and for GPs in Herefordshire and Powys, analysing over 140,000 blood and urine samples each year, producing over a million test results.

The new equipment will allow the Hereford hospital to extend its range of tests and to include others, less common.

It will have the capacity to cope with an expanded workload in the hospital for the next seven years and includes state of the art computer systems to link the individual analysers to the rest of the laboratory, and the hospital.

Because of the cost Hereford hospitals will be obliged to tender in Europe.

System upgrade

But consultants and managers will be looking for modular equipment with a simple tracking system.

This will allow the systems to be upgraded in the future to include tests for thyroid function, tumour markers, reproductive hormones and many others, including the causes of anaemia.

l The latest gift comes hot on the heels of the most expensive present ever being given to Hereford hospitals.

Jeremy and Anne Clay, through their Jordan Foundation confirmed they are financing a £1.44 million package for one of the most advanced body scanners in the world and which is expected to be operating at the hospital at the end of the year.