Ukrainian doctor at Hartlepool’s main NHS trust backs campaign to provide much-needed medical supplies

NHS staff across the region have pulled together to create Medical Aid Ukraine North East in an effort to deliver medical supplies to the war-torn country as the fight with Russia continues.

Karolis Rozanas, a 37-year-old from Lithuania who is a foundation year 2 doctor at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Gateshead, co-founded the group with Katarzyna Kostrzewa, a 35-year-old surgical trainee with Health Education England North East.

Since it was created, Ukrainian-born Vlad Vovk, a foundation 2 doctor working at North Tees and Hartlepool Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, has got involved as a way of helping those who need it most.

The 26-year-old said: “For me, this is deeply personal as I am from Ukraine myself. I came here when I was nine-years-old however I have a lot of family in Ukraine still.

"I got involved out of a keenness to help them survive and get through this and I just happened to stumble upon Karolis’ Facebook group and here I am.

"Literally a week later, we’ve got all this wonderful stuff that has been donated by NHS Trusts and I couldn’t thank the people enough for doing this, I’m eternally grateful to the people involved.

"I know this equipment will save lives, there is absolutely no doubt about that and if I can help one person with it then it is worthwhile for me.”

Vlad, who still has family and friends in Ukraine, also gave an insight into how he is feeling since war broke out with Russia on February 24.

He added: “One of my cousins is on the front line, I haven’t been able to make contact with him so I don’t know whether he is still alive or not.

"Another is in Kyiv at the moment, she works in a children’s hospital with cancer patients and they are being nursed in basements, corridors and it is a real concern that the hospital gets shelled.

"It took me a couple of days for everything to sink in, I felt like this was some sort of film and not real life.

"My parents felt much the same, my dad has been hit really hard by it and he was crying for a really long time.”

Group co-founder Karolis has revealed why he helped set up the group and spoke of his “pride” in how it is going so far.

He commented: "We were asked by some friends in Poland to see if we could send across some medical supplies from the UK as they are setting up field hospitals so we contacted a few trusts and got some more doctors involved.

"We’ve got a community in crisis evolving in front of our eyes, I’m a doctor and people are approaching us for help so we are in the right position with access to medical supplies.

"We know who to contact and my local Trust have given a warehouse and know who to contact to get the supplies.

"The response has been brilliant, I’m really proud of everyone involved and would still encourage others to also get involved.

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