ASIC Q2 2010 report

AfriKids Social Investment Club April- June Quarter Two 2010 Shareholders Update

Expansion of the AfriKids Medical Centre is providing work for over 25 local men and women. Their daily rate of pay is approximately £5 which is very competitive.

Two days work is enough to insure their families’ healthcare for a year. One week’s work is enough to put a child through one year’s primary education.

The ASIC Ward Current Situation By the end of June the construction of the ASIC ward and the second ward extension was near complete. Overseen by an expert structural engineer we now have top quality buildings that are roofed, plastered and are currently in the process of being wired. We hope you all saw the photos of construction underway in June.

High Level Timeline Site cleared- December 2009 Building commencedJanuary 2010 Roof built- May 2010

Building completionon course for August Commissioning - on course for September

The AfriKids Medical Centre Recent Staff Changes

ASIC ward in context- staff Consultation Drs Valentine, Ali and Babyaro- locum doctors. Dr Valentine covers outpatients and conducts ward rounds. Dr. Babyaro undertakes ward rounds and Dr Ali undertakes operations Mr A. G. Hamba- Medical Assistant retired from Police Medical Service in Accra Madame Benedicta Ayine- Medical Assistant 3 Locum medical Assistants

In Patients Valeria Kumilee- Matron managing wards, theatres and Reproductive Health unit 9 locum nurses provide inpatient nursing service. Most are from Regional Hospital and include, Amisory Atignii Mercy,Akulga Evelyn, Madame Pogdaa Ali Ward aide Agnes Kandibega

We were very sad in June 2010 to bid farewell to Dr Ndike Nwosu, the inspirational Medical Director who has led AfMC to its current level of success. Dr Nwosu pioneered surgery and pragmatic and innovative training courses for his staff at the centre and much of its reputation is based on his bedside manner. Dr Nwosu is a native of Nigeria and has had to return to care for his elderly father. Recruitment of a replacement is underway and excellent locums currently manage his workload. We have also been extremely lucky to recruit Mr Issah, formerly the senior most administrator for Ghana Health Service – Upper East Region as the centre’s new Head of Administration.

Theatre (1 day per week) Laboratory cont

Moses Apambilla- Nursing Aid Lamborne Thomas- Locum nurse anaesthetist from Regional Hospital

Injections and Dressings Comfort Akyim- Ward Aid Ernestina Awaliga- Ward Aid

Reproductive Health and Maternity Unit Provide ante-natal and post natal clinics, deliveries, sexual health advice and counselling and infant vaccinations Margaret Kugri - locum midwife Ophelia- locum midwife Lucy- locum midwife Mariam Anapak- Midwives’ assistant Gladys Aggiyem – cleaner

Out Patient Department Register new patients, receive old patients, provide outpatient triage to identify sick/young/old patients for fast tracking and to take vital signs to assist the doctors and medical assistants in the out patients consulting rooms, medical records service, provide routine statistical demographic and epidemiological reports Calistus Kaluti – Records Officer Vivian Bawa- Records Assistant Osei Kwasi Mark- Records Assistant Rose Adumbiri- Records Assistant Paulina Azundow- Ward Aid Juliana Ayeletee- Ward Aid Mavis Atoyelka- Ward Aid Cecelia Awaafo- Ward Aid Moses Apambilla- Ward Aid Martina Aboah- Ward Aid Ward aids are the product of Dr. Nwosu’s school leaver, generic health care training programme. One graduate of the scheme now works permanently in the laboratory and one on a sessional basis in theatre

Laboratory Bismark Awuni- Laboratory technologist. Nationally one of only 2 laboratory technicians from the private sector qualified as an inspector of labs. Bismark has recently returned from a VSO exchange programme to Portsmouth

Paul Amenga Etig- Laboratory Assistant Patience Akwalpwa- Laboratory Assistant Ramatu Musah - Laboratory Assistant, graduate of the health care assistant training programme

X-ray Florence Kumah- x-ray Abu Moro- x-ray assistant Supervision from Regional Hospital Florence and Abu are currently working and training at Regional Hospital as AfMC’s permanent X-ray room is not yet funded although the shell has been constructed

Dispensary and Stores James Anafu- Dispensary technician Matthew Ayim- Dispensary technician Emily Sali- Dispensing Assistant Aisha Haruna- Dispensing Assistant Godfried- Catering stores keeper Esther Auti- volunteer

Dietician and Catering Mary Ali Maaka- Dietician in charge Cecilia Bawa- catering staff Asa Duko- catering staff Elizabeth Nsomah- catering staff Agnes Atigyaane- AfMC Shop

Grounds and Security Abane Akolgo- head orderly Maxwell Ayamboya- orderly Gampson Ayamga- security man Glyds Azjono- orderly Bernard Nyaabono- orderly Peng Bering- night watchman Asolmia- securityman Elijah Mahama- laundry man

Administration and Finance Mr Issah- Head of Administration Felix Atale- Administrator Simon Ayamboya- Accountant Nancy Akolgo- data entry clerk Florence Adongo- data entry clerk Alice Abongo- data entry clerk.

The AfriKids Medical Centre ASIC ward in context- a day in the life of Madam Valeria My name is Valeria. I joined AfriKids just over a year ago, following retirement from Bolgatanga Regional Hospital where I worked for many years in a number of junior and senior positions including a spell as acting matron for the hospital.

On retirement I decided to join AfriKids because I still had energy and wanted to continue to use my skills to help patients for as long as I was able. I find the Medical Centre a rewarding place to work because it is becoming the centre of choice for many people in Bolgatanga. The main reasons for this are the consistent availability of medicines (not always the case in other institutions in the area), the availability of a doctor for outpatient consultations, the availability of a wide range of laboratory investigations and generally polite staff, receptive to patient needs.

At the moment we are eagerly awaiting the completion of the new wards. We have already managed to increase bed numbers from 13 to 25 but the wards are too often full and we frequently have to send patients, often very sick patients, home for admission the next day. The new wards will also bring with them much needed basic equipment such as suction and oxygen machines which we now have to borrow from the theatre when possible (a far from ideal situation with the risk of cross infection!). With the completion of the new wards we will also be able to hang mosquito nets and so avoid our patients developing malaria whilst in hospital.

I am responsible for managing the wards, Theatre and Reproductive Health Department. At the moment I am the only permanent trained nurse working at the Centre managing three locum midwives, nine locum nurses and a permanent nurse aide. Most of the locum staff work at the Regional Hospital. With the coming of the new wards I am hoping that we will be able to employ more permanent nursing staff and that a permanent midwife will be taken on soon. The locum staff are very good but they are often tired, working many hours and their commitment to the Centre is not the same as permanent staff.

A Typical Day- Wednesday 23rd June 2010 07.40 Arrived at AfMC from my home off the Navrongo Road, near Mamma Laadi’s guest house. I live about five miles from AfMC and today I was lucky as my son gave me a lift to work on the back of his moto (motorbike).

08.00 Ward “Take over “ from the night staff. It was a quiet night and discussing the condition of the 19 inpatients took about half an hour. 12 of the patients were children and most of them were being treated for malaria or pneumonia. Three of the patients were diabetic. One four year old child had passed away overnight, having been admitted less than 24 hours previously with gastroenteritis but with an underlying problem of malnutrition. The patient was admitted too late for there to have been a realistic chance to save his life. Relatives had already removed his body by the morning. All that remained to do was for the doctor to sign his death certificate.

08.30 I supervised bed making and dusting. There is a great deal of dust being made by the building work but it will be worth it in the long run.

09.00 Ward round with Dr. Valantine. This took almost 2 hours, not an unusual length of time. 10 of the patients were discharged and all of them had collected their drugs from the pharmacy and left by 11.00. All the mothers of the children have remained with their sons and daughters during their stay in hospital, providing them with food (we hope to have our own meals service soon)and sleeping with them on their wonderful new hospital beds, supplied from the UK 11.00 New patient admissions begin. Seven patients were admitted by 2.00 pm, all of them children and most of them with malaria, confirmed by the lab in the morning. My role was to supervise and take part in reception of the patients, bed allocation, taking and recording of vital signs and administration of drugs. Six patients had been prescribed infusions and one an injection to combat pneumonia. The relatives obtained all of the infusions and carried them to the ward for my nurses to administer. There were two nurses on the afternoon shift (2-8 pm) but only two on the morning shift (8 am -2 pm) as the 3rd nurse we would normally have on duty in the morning was sick. There were two nurses on the night shift (8pm-8am) which is the normal complement. The majority of our nurses are male which reflects the general position in Ghana today.

2.00 Completed the “changes “ book recording admissions and discharges and produced the daily bed state.

2.30 Back home to cook the dinner for the family and rest after an unusually routine day!

The AfriKids Medical Centre ASIC ward in context- GAS partnership

‘No woman should die giving life’ Ghana Health Services strap line

The Ghana Health Service (UER)- AfriKids- SUHT (Southampton Universities NHS Hospitals Trust) partnership, catch-ly known as GAS is in full swing. The top right hand corner shows the official signing of the agreement in Southampton in May with a traditional exchange of gifts; Ghana Health Service shirt for Mark Hackett, CEO of SUHT and a football kit for Mr Dery, Deputy Regional Director of GHS. Back in Ghana the legacy of visitors to date is being enjoyed; the new beds and veronica buckets made possible by SUHT volunteers are above. Also new training programmes are underway; Dr Malvena Stuart Taylor (Consultant Anaesthetist), Jonathan Stanger (Theatre Matron) and Laura Godfrey (Radiographer) visited the region with Nick Eastcott, AfriKids’ Healthcare Project Manager, ex-SUHT employee and a key driver behind the GAS Partnership. They all delivered training sessions and carried out assessment activities.