A £50,000 donation has put a solid bottom into the New Medical Equipment Appeal for Hereford's new hospital, writes ELIZABETH WATKINS.

The gift comes from a trust which has Herefordshire connections, but the benefactors wish to remain anonymous.

"We are absolutely delighted with their generosity,'' said Jenny Dereham, chairman of the appeal which wants to raise £850,000 to buy equipment for the hospital before it opens in April 2002.

But the £50,000 donation will not sit in the bank until that date.

It has been agreed it should be spent immediately to buy a state-of-the-art Julian anaesthetic workstation to use in operating theatres straight away.

Three Julian machines were top priority in the shopping list for new equipment to be purchased with the appeal money and the trust donation has already secured one of them.

The Julian's advanced safety features make giving anaesthetic safer than ever.

Its battery back-up means that, even in the event of a power failure, the Julian can continue to provide ventilation for the patient and monitoring in complete safety.

The advanced design means a complete systems check is carried out automatically before it can be used.

The same design allows the Julian to save money by using less of expensive gases and anaesthetic agents that keep the patient asleep, at the same time reducing emission of harmful green house gases responsible for global warming.

Mrs Dereham said the appeal generally was receiving enthusiastic support and many groups and individuals were organising fund raising events in the coming months.