Twenty years ago, on December 9, 1989, the Coronary Care Unit (CCU) at the Gozo General Hospital was inaugurated by Minister Anton Tabone.

I recently had the pleasure of visiting the CCU - it now also incorporates the Intensive Care Unit.

Had I been a patient, I am sure I would have felt comfortable and well cared for as the equipment was state-of-the-art, the ward bright and cheerful and the staff friendly and obviously highly competent.

However, I am sure that many people are not aware that the modernisation of this ward was made possible by the hard work of the Gozo CCU Monitor Foundation, founded and chaired by Dame Carmen Bellamy, a Gozitan, who is a very special lady indeed. Carmen and her team have provided most of the unit's equipment.

This equipment had been bought with local and foreign donations to the foundation and their sponsors and is not the result of the good work by the government as has been reported in the press. This equipment includes a comprehensive patient observation system consisting of eight monitors and a central console and printer for the nurse's station, six fully electronic, state-of-the-art beds, including special mattresses, over-bed tables, and other related accessories.

An air mattress and air overlays are used to help prevent bed or pressure sores. The most recent acquisitions are two biphasic defibrillators, which can be used as an external (temporary) pacemaker.

Thankfully, the equipment listed here doesn't mean much to most of us, but it has made the lives of many patients in Gozo much more comfortable and has possibly made the difference between life and death for many.

Had it not been for this foundation, the equipment available would still have been that which was installed 20 years ago - or rather what was left of it.

Let's give credit where credit is due and thank the CCU Foundation team and their generous donors for making such an important contribution to the Gozo General Hospital.