West Surrey Osteoporosis Group raise more than £30,000 for Ashford & St Peter's Hospitals

Since 2006, the National Osteoporosis Society's West Surrey Support Group have raised a total of £31,600 to improve local osteoporosis services and presented their latest donation of £10,000 to the Ashford and St Peter's NHS Hospital Trust on 13th July 2009.

St Peter's is currently the only NHS hospital in the West Surrey area with a Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) scanner, which is currently recognised by the National Osteoporosis Society as the most accurate and reliable way to determine the strength of bones.

Caroline Bowden on the DXA Scanner with Victoria Howard, Health Care Assistant; Marie Richards, DXA Lead; Aileen McLeish, Chairman; Angela Clark, West Surrey Osteoporosis Group Chair and Dr Peter Finch, Imaging Clinical Director

This latest donation of £10,000 will contribute towards the purchase of an additional DXA scanner which will be installed in Ashford Hospital.

The reception was also attended by members of the Wentworth Tennis and Health Club, who nominated the West Surrey Osteoporosis Group as their Captain's Charity of the Year in 2007. The club raised £16,900 which enabled Ashford & St Peter's Hospital to purchase a peripheral forearm DXA scanner. This portable scanner can be used in West Surrey GP practices to screen for signs of osteoporosis. Patients who require further investigation are then referred to St Peter's for a full DXA scan.

Judy Maycock, Wentworth Tennis & Health Club Manager using the Peripheral Scanner with Dr Peter Finch, Imaging Clinical Director and Marie Richards, DXA Lead

Angela Clark, Chair of the West Surrey Support Group presented the latest donation and said:"We were delighted to visit St Peter's hospital and present the cheque to Aileen McLeish, Ashford & St Peter's Hospitals NHS Trust Chairman. It is nice so many people made the reception to acknowledge the work of our group and all our supporters, including Angela Jordan, Deputy Chief Executive of the National Osteoporosis Society, and representatives of Wentworth Tennis and Health Club."

• In the UK, one in two women and one in five men over the age of 50 will break a bone mainly because of osteoporosis. The National Osteoporosis Society is the only UK wide charity dedicated to improving the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of osteoporosis
  
  
• The West Surrey National Osteoporosis Society Support Group is one of more than 100 local support groups around the UK offering information and support to people affected by osteoporosis.
  
  
• Three million people are estimated to have osteoporosis in the UK.
  
  
• Further information about osteoporosis can be found at www.nos.org.uk