Teesside-based Ukrainian doctor praises effort to collect supplies

Dr Vladyslav Vovk said his cousin was looking after patients in the basement of the Kyiv hospital for safety

A Ukrainian doctor now based in the UK has praised the "brilliant effort" of people who have donated medical supplies to send to those in need.

Vladyslav Vovk, a junior doctor at North Tees NHS Trust, said his cousin worked in a Kyiv children's hospital, where things were "pretty desperate".

Dr Vovk is working with Medical Aid Ukraine North East to raise funds and collect supplies for field hospitals.

It has collected 120 pallets full of oximeters, ECG and ultrasound scanners.

Patients at Kyiv's children's hospitals are being nursed in the basement for fear of shelling

Dr Vovk said: "My cousin is working 18 hours a day in the hospital and sleeping in the hospital - yesterday she said the Ukrainian Air Force had shot down a missile headed for the hospital."

He added his cousin was looking after oncology patients who had been taken to the basement of the hospital for safety.

"The more basic trauma gear we can get to Ukraine, the more people will survive this," he said.

"So it's something that's really close to my heart and something people in north-east England feel very strongly about, given the size of donations."

So far 120 pallets of medical supplies and equipment have been collected

Medical Aid Ukraine North East was set up by NHS workers in north-east England to collect supplies to send to Ukraine.

Other equipment and medicine being collected and donated by the public include bandages, tourniquets, dressings and non-prescription painkillers.

Some supplies will be loaded on to a convoy heading for the Ukrainian border and into the country where they will be distributed to field hospitals.

Others equipment will be flown to Poland to help refugees who have already crossed the border.