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Welcome from Laura Hucks, Director of King’s Global Health Partnerships
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Welcome to the KGHP Spring newsletter! This edition includes news of fresh collaborations with partners in Somaliland and Zambia, as well as a joyful celebration of 10 years of partnership in Sierra Leone. We also hear from Dr Melvina Thompson from Connaught Hospital in Sierra Leone, who recently spent three weeks in London, observing on the Stroke ward at Guy’s and St Thomas’s NHS Foundation Trust.
Our new collaborations in Somaliland and Zambia focus on two major challenges in healthcare delivery in resource-constrained settings – quality and access. In Somaliland, working closely with the Ministry of Health Development and THET, and generously funded by the Qatar Charity, we will be working at different levels of the health system to improve the quality of care. Our new project will take a three-pronged approach: making immediate improvements in health facilities; building quality improvement capability amongst hospital staff and policy makers; and supporting strategic oversight and planning. In Zambia, we are working to support the government’s ambitions to make cancer care more accessible. Working with colleagues from King's and across Zambia, we are assessing services for breast and cervical cancer, with a view to strengthening decentralised cancer care for Zambian women, many of whom must travel long distances to access services.
Our work is only possible because of our collaborative relationships with health professionals, both in Africa and in the UK. If you are an NHS staff member and would like to get involved, do explore the opportunities below, or join us in person at an informal engagement event on the evening of 27th April.
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Latest News from our Health Partnerships
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King's Global Health Partnerships awarded funding to improve the quality of healthcare in Somaliland
We are delighted to have been awarded £1.1million from Qatar Charity to implement a healthcare improvement strategy, in partnership with Somaliland's Ministry of Health Development and the World Health Organisation. The project will work with all six regional hospitals in Somaliland to directly improve the quality of care that patients receive, and work with universities to deliver improvements in medical higher education before doctors enter the health system.
Read more here
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Celebrating 10 years of the King's Sierra Leone Partnership
In January, we celebrated the 10 year anniversary of our health partnership with Sierra Leone. We brought together friends and colleagues in Freetown to mark the occasion, share memories, and reflect on the achievements of the partnership. We hear from some of the people who make this collaboration a success.
Read more here
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Supporting the development of cancer services in Zambia
We are privileged to be collaborating with the King’s Institute of Cancer Policy, the Cancer Diseases Hospital in Lusaka, Livingstone General Hospital and Ndola Teaching Hospital, to undertake an assessment of current services with a view to identifying practical steps to support the decentralisation of cancer services.
Read more here
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Three weeks in a London stroke ward: Dr Melvina Thompson visits from the King's Sierra Leone Partnership
We chat to Dr Melvina Thompson from the new stroke unit at Connaught Hospital about her exchange visit to London, where she has been based at the Mark Ward – Guy’s and St Thomas’ stroke and neuro-rehabilitation unit.
Read more here
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Research from King’s Centre for Global Health and Health Partnerships
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Are you an NHS employee interested in global health? Would you like to use your skills, learn & make friends in a different context?
We are currently recruiting for NHS volunteers to support our partnerships in Sub-Saharan Africa. If you are curious to find out more – please join us at our informal event on 27th April from 6pm-8pm at King’s College London Guy’s Campus, close to London Bridge.
Register for the volunteer engagement event here
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Current Volunteering Opportunities
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We are recruiting for the following volunteer posts:
Point of Care Ultrasound Trainer, Sierra Leone (6 month placement in-country)
ST4 Neonatologist, Neonatal Nurse Practitioner or Neonatal Nurse (band 6+), Zambia (6 month placement in-country)
Midwife, Zambia (6 month placement in-country)
Quality Improvement Expert Volunteer, Somaliland (remote and in-country support)
Infection Prevention Control Volunteers, Somaliland (remote and in-country support)
Infectious Diseases Doctor or Microbiologist, Zambia (remote and in-country support)
Pharmacist (band 6+), Zambia (remote and in-country support)
Infectious Diseases Doctor or Microbiologist, Sierra Leone (remote and in-country support)
Pharmacist (band 6+), Sierra Leone (remote and in-country support)
Pharmacist (band 6+), Sierra Leone (6-12 month placement in-country)
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Meet the People behind the Partnerships
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Josh and Sam are final year medical students from King’s College London who have joined KGHP for their seven-week elective placement at Connaught Hospital in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
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Help us to continue our work
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If you would like to donate to the partnerships, please consider supporting us with a one-off or regular donation.
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