This Christmas, we are launching an appeal for much needed medical equipment. Until now, we have focused our fundraising attention on establishing scholarships; but now we have 6 doctors and a number of nurses working back in their remote mountain hospitals, it is vital they have essential equipment available to diagnose and treat their patients.

Relatively basic equipment such as finger prick tests to measure the blood sugar and haemoglobin, pulse oximeters to measure the oxygen circulating in the blood and machines to reliably detect a babys heartbeat, are often not available or broken beyond repair in the rural areas of Nepal.

We have asked our own DFN qualified nurses and doctors what equipment or educational material they really need to facilitate patient care, make their jobs easier and help decide which patients need urgent transfer to secondary referral centres. They are on the front line and know what is desperately needed.

Suggestions include:

* £15 will buy a machine to monitor oxygen saturation

* £20 will buy a machine to test the Haemoglobin

* £150 will buy a fetal heart detector

* £2000 will buy a CTG machine (to monitor fetal heart rate throughout labour)

These are relatively small amounts but make a huge difference to patient care. Giving small amounts of money will really help and we will make sure that the equipment gets to the areas that it is most needed using our contacts in Nepal. Please give what you can this Christmas.

Thank you from us all.