Britain’s first field hospital opens in Gaza to treat patients with conditions ranging from minor illnesses to gunshot wounds

The first UK-funded field hospital has opened in Gaza to treat patients suffering from illnesses ranging from minor illnesses to injuries as serious as gunshot wounds.

The hospital was set up by the NGO UK-Med, which sends NHS staff around the world to help in international emergencies.

It is based near Rafah in the Gaza Strip, where around 1.5 million Palestinians now live after being forced to flee other areas.

UK-Med chief executive David Wightwick said the “scale of need” for hospital care in the region is “simply staggering”.

Speaking in Al Mawasi, on Gaza’s southern coast, he said there were not many services available and health care had been “eroded to the point that if you are sick, if you are sick, if you are injured, you are in a difficult situation.” very difficult situation.”

The hospital was set up by the NGO UK-Med, which sends NHS staff around the world to help with international emergencies.

The field hospital has been dispatched from Manchester and, once completed, will be the size of two football fields and will treat around 250 people every day.

When UK and Mediterranean trucks were delayed at the Gaza border, Mr Wightwick’s team began construction work using timber from nearby destroyed buildings, the BBC reports.

He said a lot of negotiations were needed to secure the land for the hospital and get equipment and supplies across the border.

Mr Wightwick also said it was difficult to find staff and communicate as none of their mobile phones or internet were working.

“Everything has to work in one way or another to bring essential and urgent life-saving services to people,” he told the BBC.

UK-Med says its team already treats almost 100 patients every day at the hospital.

Mr Wightwick said doctors have seen “acute malnutrition in very young children” as they run mobile clinics stretching to Gaza.

A team of surgeons is also based at Al Aqsa hospital, the only one currently operating in the center of the strip.

The hospital’s wards and corridors are full of patients and their families, the BBC reports.

It is based near Rafah in the Gaza Strip, where around 1.5 million Palestinians now live after being forced to flee other areas.

UK-Med chief executive David Wightwick said the “scale of need” for hospital care in the region is “simply staggering”.

During their visit, they saw a 12-year-old boy, Anas, sent to the operating room with a broken leg and an injured face.

He told the BBC he was playing when his neighborhood was bombed, injuring him and killing his mother and baby brother, aged just six months.

Anas was treated by British orthopedic surgeon Saba Papuashvili, who described the boy as “brave”. His operation was successful and he will recover.

Anesthetist Judith Kendall said she was shocked by the number of children seriously injured.

Hospitals in Gaza, in addition to being unable to cope with the number of patients, are also being attacked by Israeli forces, claiming that Hamas is using them as cover.

Hamas-led health authorities deny this.