West Midlands ambulance staff help Ukrainian children with cancer
West Midlands Ambulance Service has helped bring 21 Ukrainian children with cancer to the UK to receive care through the NHS.
Fifty staff members were involved in the operation at Birmingham Airport on Sunday when the children and their immediate family members flew in from Poland.
The UK partnered with St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, a non-profit American organisation which specialises in paediatric diseases, to arrange an urgent flight for the children.
Staff from the WMAS emergency and non-emergency transport teams then helped move the children and their family members to a triage centre and their final destination.
A spokesman for the service praised the "incredible teamwork" from NHS staff who worked with civil servants to transfer the children from east to west Europe.
The 21 children will now undergo an assessment to understand their specific health needs before receiving free life-saving treatment at an appropriate NHS hospital.
Hospitals in Poland have taken in many children needing healthcare who have arrived from Ukraine.
The children's arrival came after a Russian attack on a military training base near Yavoriv in western Ukraine, less than 15 miles (24km) from the border with Poland, a Nato member.
Meanwhile people keen to offer refugees shelter in the UK can now register their interest in sponsoring Ukrainians through the Government's new humanitarian scheme.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said:"The sickening suffering of innocent civilians in Ukraine is truly horrific. This vital lifesaving medical care is another important step in our support for the people of Ukraine and their resistance against Putin’s illegal invasion.
"I am hugely grateful to our fantastic NHS staff as well as our partners, including our Polish friends, for their support in bringing these children to the UK and we will continue to do all we can to support them as they continue their critical treatment here."
Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid added: "I am appalled by the atrocities we’ve seen in Ukraine and the despicable attacks being carried out on innocent civilians.
"I am proud that the UK is offering lifesaving medical care to these Ukrainian children, who have been forced out of their home country by the Russian invasion while undergoing medical treatment.
"I know that the incredible staff in the NHS will ensure they get the best possible care. I am hugely grateful to our partners and our Polish friends for their support in bringing these children to the UK.
"We stand together with the people of Ukraine and will continue to do all we can to help them."
