A cancer patient has helped to raise thousands to help an Aberdeen hospital buy state-of-the art surgical equipment.

Doctors at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary have been supplied with three laparoscopic cameras which help improve surgery for cancer patients.

The small, high-definition cameras, costing a total of £16,200, make surgery less painful, improves recovery time and results in less post-operative problems.

Cancer patient Dot Tadman raised £22,000, through the Friends of Anchor charity, by selling The Secret Ingredient recipe book she had compiled.

She said: "Because I've got cancer myself it's been a major project in raising the money.

"What started off as a phone interview gained loads of arms and legs.

"It's just been so important to help the Friends of Anchor because they've done so much to help me and other patients.

"To give that back has just been really important."

The very narrow cameras allow surgeons to carry out invasive procedures through only a small incision made in the patient's skin.

Professor Zygmunt Krukowski, consultant surgeon, said: "It's something that, with the current state of NHS finances, we couldn't look to get in the short term.

"To be able to tap into a fund of sources like Friends of Anchor is superb.

"The advantage of these smaller cameras is kind of obvious, in the smaller incisions that are made in patients to do these complicated operations."

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