Charity funds hospital equipment

The blood analyser will be used in outpatient clinics

A charity that continues to raise money in memory of a cancer victim has funded a new blood analysis machine for a Surrey hospital.

The KatCanDo campaign was set up by Kate Coles, a former member of staff at Frimley Park Hospital who was diagnosed with the disease in 2003.

She died in March 2006 at the age of 51, but her friends and family have carried on fund-raising in her name.

The blood analyser is for Frimley Park-run clinics at Farnham Hospital.

Donations totalling £16,500 enabled the machine to be bought.

It can give blood test results on the spot, speeding up diagnosis and reducing the need for follow-up appointments.

Professor Graham Smith, a consultant haematologist, said: "When KatCanDo came to us and asked what they could buy that would make a real difference to patients, this was top of our list."

Charity trustee Chris Pateman said: "We all miss Kate very much, but she would be so pleased to know that the charity is going on to help improve the care of other patients."