A nurse from Hitchin has flown out to Ukraine with the frontline medical aid charity, UK-Med, as it finalises plans to set up a static and mobile health clinic in the country.
Becky Platt, a Royal London Hospital paediatric nurse, will join the existing team of nine who are already working across the country.
Becky - who received a British Empire Medal in 2021 for services to humanitarian response - has more than 25 years’ experience in nursing and this is her fourth emergency deployment.
She said: "I’d spent two weeks feeling desperate to go, so felt a mixture of relief and a bit of trepidation when I got the call from UK-Med. I’ll be there six weeks, which is the longest I’ve been away from my husband and sixteen-year-old twins, Eden and Noah.
"But they’re really proud of me and happy to support what I’m doing."
The health clinic - one hour south of Lviv - to be set up in partnership with the Greek Catholic charity, Caritas Ukraine, will care for the 15,000 internationally displaced people – mainly women, children and the elderly – who have taken up shelter in the western city of around 75,000 people.
For many of the thousands fleeing from the east, it has become a major stop off point on the way to the border, while others are remaining there permanently. The UNHCR reports that there are now 6.5million displaced people spread across Ukraine.
In Drohobych, 15 schools have been converted into temporary accommodation. Currently there are good supplies of water and food, but with multiple families sharing what were once classrooms, the likelihood of infections spreading is high.
For Becky - who has experience in emergency, acute, major and minor trauma, surgery, medicine, resuscitation and safeguarding - there was never any doubt about going.
She continued: "It’s just shocking this is happening in our lifetime, virtually on our doorstep, and when you see the massive humanitarian need you can’t not respond.
"That might be responding by donating or, for me, using my skills to help. That’s the reason why I’m going, and the reason I was never going to say no to this."
Local authorities and healthcare providers in Drohobych have identified a need to provide primary health and general surgical care to this new and ever-growing community. This will include paediatric, maternal and geriatric care, and infection control.
Leading the UK-Med team is Mr Andrew Moore, a senior leader with extensive overseas humanitarian programme management and military experience from the South West.
UK-Med CEO David Wightwick, who is also in Ukraine supporting the assessment team, said: "We’re proud to deliver primary health care to the desperate women, children and elderly fleeing their homes in the East, but who are still in the country.
"As the conflict continues, many more people will be flooding across Ukraine from war zones. It’s essential we continue our health needs assessments. UK-Med is committed to delivering healthcare to the people who have either been injured in the conflict or who are simply not well enough or have the means to make the journey across the borders."
Dr Freda Newlands, an emergency medicine doctor, has been in Ukraine with UK-Med for over a week: "Imagine overcrowded dormitories, poor sanitation, no hygiene facilities and lack of laundry facilities.
"This is the perfect recipe for the potential spread of infection, so we hope to be able to provide primary care for them. There will be a need for the treatment of children with the usual childhood infections, ante-natal care, monitoring of chronic diseases and treatment of acute illness."
When health systems are overwhelmed, UK-Med gets expert health teams to where they’re needed fast and helps communities prepare for future health crises.
Drawing from an accredited register of nearly 1,000 highly trained UK and international doctors, nurses, paramedics and allied health professionals, over the past two years UK-Med has responded to 22 requests for help in 21 countries across the world - including Lebanon, Myanmar and Yemen.
Money to help UK-Med’s lifesaving work can be donated direct at www.uk-med.org.
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