TWO chairs and a wealth of health care experience helped Wiltshire doctor Bharat Phankania make a positive contribution in the Indian town of Gujarat which was hit my a massive earthquake in January.

Wiltshire Health Authority's expert in communicable diseases has just returned from two weeks in Bhuj and other towns affected by the quake.

Dr Pankhania ensured his skills got to the people who most needed them by setting up a makeshift mobile clinic, consisting of two chairs and a helper.

I travelled to the villages, set up the two chairs under the shade of a tree and my helper went off and told people the doctor had arrived,'' he said.

Now back at work in Devizes, he has spoken of the horrifying sights which he was met with in India.

Consultant Dr Bharat was given time off by his employers for the trip, which he paid for out of his own pocket.

His plan was to counsel those people suffering from post traumatic stress as well as providing much needed medical services.

Whole towns have been flattened in just three minutes, said Dr Pankhania.

In the town of Bhachau every single building was demolished and the bodies of people and animals still lay under the wreckage.

He said he was horrified by the exploitation of the newly-bereaved widows and orphans.

People who had lost families, homes, and their livings, just sat forlornly by the remains of the buildings where they once lived.

I saw patients who were suffering from depression, anxiety, phobias of buildings and sleeplessness.

I also tended people who were in pain with fractured limbs and muscle injuries as a result of crushing injuries, he said.

He also told of widows treated for burns after they had tried to end their lives through the despair of being alone.

For some people who have been left alone with no-one to care for them, suicide seems the only option and many try to end their lives by burning.

Dr Pankhania, whose ancestors come from the Gujurat region, believes his linguistic skills were especially helpful when dealing with people traumatised by the earthquake.

People were surprised and pleased to see me, he said.

Even if I could do nothing for them, just being able to express how I felt in their language and have them talk to me was something.