A HOSPITAL has more equipment available to make patients' stay comfortable thanks to a cash gift from a charity's tea bar.

The new equipment for Chester-le-Street Hospital was handed over to North Durham Healthcare NHS Trust chairman Kevin Earley by Women's Royal Voluntary Service (WRVS) member Nancy Walker.

The list of gifts, which has been divided between all wards, included two nebulisers, a moveable partition for greater privacy on wards and a portable television for patients in side wards.

Also presented were an iron to help develop patients' independent living skills following illness and furniture to equip a new educational play area for children in the outpatients' department.

WRVS hospital service manager Debbie Mason said: "We are really pleased to be able to hand over this much-needed equipment.

"Events like this really show our volunteers how the time they give up to help at the tea bar can make a difference to people's lives."

Members of the Friends of Chester-le-Street Hospital also attended the presentation, to hand over equipment worth over £1,000, and Jessie Watson and Veronica Wilson of Pelton presented a cheque of nearly £700