An advanced practitioner from Lees who is volunteering her time every month through a community pop-up surgery is appealing to the community to help raise money for vital equipment.

Sarah Shilton, who has worked as a nurse for 16 years and completed her Advanced Practitioner master’s degree in 2019, is appealing for donations to go towards vital equipment for her community pop-up surgery.

So far, she currently provides basic assessments and advice for a range of health issues including blood pressure, skin problems, ears, musculoskeletal problems and mental health.

The pop-up practice is open to members of the community to come and speak to Sarah on a one-on-one basis about their health concerns.

However, the nurse is hoping to expand her services even further by providing blood and heart assessments – but she needs funds to purchase vital kits and equipment in order to do so.

On her wish list of needs includes an Electrocardiogram (ECG) machine, which can assess heart rhythm, and cholesterol and blood tests.

She has a fundraising goal of £350 and said any remaining funds would go towards the purchase and upkeep of a new defibrillator for the community.

Ms Shilton set up the walk-in service entirely out of her own pocket and in her own time and plans on committing one day per month on a weekend to answering some of the community’s key health concerns.

She said the idea was born out of a lack of walk-in centres in Oldham – and since patients report enormous difficulty in booking a GP appointment.

Ms Shilton said she hopes to fill in some of those gaps by helping people with minor health concerns and putting their minds at ease.

She also hopes to ease some of the pressure from GP services.

The nurse told The Oldham Times last week that she “loves” hosting the pop-up surgeries but admitted it’s easier to do with NHS resources than going solo.

Ms Shilton added: “I love helping the community and being able to provide that service and hopefully spot any problems before they develop into something more serious."

To donate to Ms Shilton’s equipment appeal, search ‘Community health equipment’ on GoFundMe or follow this link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/community-health-equipment?utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-1&utm_medium=chat&utm_source=whatsapp