Cancer patient buys his own chemo machine... for just $200 on eBay (Details, pics)

When Steve Brewer was told his hospital couldn’t afford the best chemotherapy machines, he thought he’d see if he could help. So the cancer patient logged on to eBay, and to his astonishment, discovered one of the £3,400 pumps was available for just £175.

Since snapping it up he has found another six for about £100 each, saving the hospital a small fortune and helping fellow patients.

The NHS has been accused of squandering taxpayers’ money by forking out extortionate sums for items that can be bought for a fraction of the cost over the counter. Mr Brewer said: ‘There must be loads of these second-hand machines. They must go somewhere. It could save hospitals hundreds of thousands of pounds.’

The 62-year-old, from Peterborough, was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2014 and has gone through 25 rounds of chemotherapy, which is keeping the disease at bay. During his first round at Peterborough City Hospital, a nurse mentioned the need for more triple pump machines, which administer the drugs faster than single-pump versions.

From his hospital bed, the retired tech worker visited eBay on his phone and discovered a model was being sold by Southampton Hospital. ‘One popped up on eBay for £175,’ he said. ‘The triple pumps cut 30 to 40 minutes off each treatment – it literally gives you half an hour of your life back each time.’

Chemo sessions normally take more than four hours with a single pump. Peterborough’s oncology ward had 26 bays for treatment but only ten triple pumps. Father-of-three Mr Brewer, who also has two grandchildren, found half a dozen more of the machines on the auction site and crowd funded £900 to pay for them.

Initially, hospital staff told him they couldn’t use the machines because they were second-hand. But he and chemotherapy nurse Angelo Cuenca persuaded manufacturer Baxter to re-commission the pumps for free, allowing the hospital to use them for five years.

Mr Brewer, who still has to use the machines every other week, said: ‘There was a bit of red tape. It took a while but we persevered.' The hospital needed those machines and they knew what a difference this would make.’ He added: ‘I’m hoping the idea will catch on at other hospitals now.’

Linda Nkhata, the hospital’s chemotherapy day unit manager, said they were ‘incredibly grateful’ for Mr Brewer’s intervention. She said: ‘The pumps cost £3,400 each to buy new, which would be a massive outlay for the trust.

‘However, to have seven of them donated has made such a difference.’ Last week it emerged the NHS had paid more than £1,500 for a pot of moisturiser that was available elsewhere for £2.