|
Welcome from Laura Hucks, Director of King’s Global Health Partnerships
|
|
Welcome to KGHP’s summer newsletter! I am writing from Freetown in Sierra Leone where the global fuel crisis is biting hard. It’s not just price rises like we’ve seen in the UK, there is also a widespread shortage. Our partners at the National Emergency Medical Service are struggling to keep ambulances on the road; their daily response rate for obstetric and paediatric emergencies has plummeted, with terrible consequences for mothers and babies needing referral from rural clinics to specialist care, as well as the very real risk of a loss of confidence in the emergency care system.
There are some great examples of cross-continental learning and collaboration in this edition. We were delighted to be able to support the Primary Trauma Care (PTC) committee from Kongo Central Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo to travel to neighbouring Burundi where they delivered expert training to frontline health workers. The DRC PTC committee was formed back in 2016 at the request of clinicians who wanted to feel more confident managing the high burden of injury from road traffic collisions in the Kongo Central Province. We have also supported colleagues from Connaught Hospital in Sierra Leone to spend time in Ghana, shadowing health workers at the Burns Unit at Korle Bu Hospital in Accra. Connaught will be opening its own Burns Unit in the coming months –a major step forward for burns care in Sierra Leone and the only silver lining of the terrible fuel tanker explosion, which left over 100 people dead and many severely injured back in November last year. We are grateful for the generosity of our supporters which has enabled this important work.
Do also read the great interviews with our colleagues, Jenny Somer, a Ward Sister at the Evelina Children’s Hospital and from Abu Bakarr Sesay from the Young Pharmacist’s Association, Sierra Leone. As always, we’d love to hear from you if you would like to be involved in our work.
|
|
Latest News from our Health Partnerships
|
|
Improving maternal and neonatal care in Zambia
Volunteers from across King's Health Partners recently visited our partner hospitals in Zambia – the Ndola Teaching Hospital (NTH) and Arthur Davison Children’s Hospital (ADCH) – to deliver leadership and mentorship training. It is part of a three-year project to improve the quality of care at primary health care level and increase the number of safe referrals to more specialist care for mothers and their babies in the Copperbelt Province of Zambia.
Read an interview with our expert volunteer, Jenny Somer here
|
|
Champions for Antimicrobial Stewardship in Sierra Leone
We catch up with one of the ten, early career pharmacists at Connaught Hospital, Abu Bakarr Sesay, who trained to become an Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS) Champion. As part of a Commonwealth programme to address antimicrobial resistance, by strengthening institutions and the health workforce in Commonwealth countries, they were supported by AMS specialist pharmacists from across King’s Health Partners’ NHS Trusts.
Read more here
|
|
Primary Trauma Care training: taking learning beyond the Democratic Republic of Congo
Following the long-term rollout of Primary Trauma Care (PTC) training to 300 health workers and 25 PTC instructors in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Kongo Central PTC Committee and King's Global Health Partnerships were invited to share this learning, and deliver the system of training to PTC instructors and frontline doctors and nurses in neighbouring country, Burundi.
Read more here
|
|
Improving burns care in Sierra Leone
Eight months after the major fuel tanker explosion in Sierra Leone, we catch up with the team in Freetown to hear how the incredible £85,000 raised by King's in response to the tragedy, has been used to support health workers in the care of burns survivors.
Read more here
|
|
Research from King’s Centre for Global Health and Health Partnerships
|
|
Save the Date - Volunteer Celebration Event
On September 8th, we will be hosting an event at the KGHP offices at Addison House, Guy's Campus, King's College London to celebrate all our wonderful volunteers, past and present. The event will take place from 5.00-7.30pm. Further details will be announced closer to the date.
|
|
|
Current Volunteering Opportunities
|
|
We are recruiting for the following volunteer posts:
Health Data Management Lead, Democratic Republic of Congo (remote and in-country support)
Surgical Lead, Democratic Republic of Congo (remote and in-country support)
|
|
Meet the People behind the Partnerships
|
|
Help us to continue our work
|
|
|
If you would like to donate to the partnerships, please consider supporting us with a one-off or regular donation.
|
|
|
|
