Focus Magazine - Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

From left, architect Oliver Zuber, St Jude’s medical director,Dr Sylvestre Francois (who invited Dr Moreea, to help setup the endoscopy unit at St Jude’s) and Dr Moreea standingin the new unit which has been designed by Oliver.BRI consultant, Dr Sulleman Moreea, is helping to bring new medicalprocedures and equipment to two hospitals in the Caribbean which willbenefit sick patients.The consultant gastroenterologistand hepatologist was at thestart of a holiday to St Luciawith his wife five years ago,when a chance conversationwith a taxi driver, who was alsoa IT healthcare consultant, ledto beginning of an enduringrelationship with the island.When Dr Moreea learnt thatSt Jude’s Hospital, in the south ofthe island, relied on both publicmoney, private donations andThe temporary endoscopy room at thefootball stadium where patients will beseen while the hospital is built at St Jude’s.FOCUS August 2013 page 20the support of foreign doctorsand nurses, he requested ameeting with the medicaldirector (MD) and chairman toask what he could do to help.After being shown aroundthe hospital, Dr Moreea wastold it had no facilities forgastrointestinal endoscopy;medical equipment used toexamine and treat diseases ofthe digestive tract from themouth to anus.Since then, Dr Moreea hasbeen single-handedly gatheringdonated equipment andproviding expertise to launchnot one but two pioneeringendoscopy units on the tinyCarribean island.He initially returnedto St Lucia in August2009, with £50,000worth of equipmentfor St Jude’s Hospital,where he spent aweek training doctorsin gastro-intestinalendoscopy. Only for theentire unit to be burntdown 10 days laterin a fire which killedthree staff. All medicalequipment was lost.Whilst preparations werebeing made for St Jude’s tobe re-built, Dr Moreea soughtdonations from manufacturinggiants, Pentax and Olympus,who donated £100,000s worthof equipment to the new unitwhose plans are being overseenby his friend, Swiss architect,Oliver Zuber.“This will ensure thatthe facilities are almost ona par with what we have inBradford,” said Dr Moreea.Dr Moreea was thenapproached by Dr Lisa Charles,MD of the Victoria Hospital, innorth St Lucia, who had heardabout his work and invited himto set up a similar endoscopyunit there.“This was the chance of a lifetime,” added Dr Moreea. “Tobe able to bring new proceduresto St Lucia from which patientswould benefit was an offer Icouldn’t refuse.”Victoria Hospital had alreadysecured their endoscopy