Out of AfriKids
July 2010
AfriKids is a Child Rights Organisation working to improve life for Ghana’s most vulnerable and disadvantaged children in a holistic, inclusive and sustainable manner
The GAS Partnership begins AfriKids and Ghana Health Service host the first official visit from Southampton University Hospitals Trust under the new partnership agreement. You’ll remember from our last update that in late May 2010 AfriKids signed a major new partnership agreement that’s set to have a great impact on health provision in the Upper East Region (UER) of Ghana. The ‘GAS Partnership’, named after its participants; Ghana Health Services UER, AfriKids and Southampton University Hospitals Trust, is set to deliver training in the UK and Ghana for health professionals in the UER. Training health professionals might naturally seem a positive activity but in the UER the need for such training is dramatic. For a population of over one million, the doctor to patient ratio is 1: 36,383 compared to 1: 471 in the UK. Our first visitors go to the GHS Theatre (far above and above) and review the training with AfriKids and GHS staff Bismark leads a discussion with Jonathan Stanger and Dr Malvena Stuart Taylor (below)
The GAS partnership is delivering training in four areas which were agreed in round table discussions held in Bolgatanga earlier in the year. The areas are Maternal Health, Child Health, Anaesthetics and Emergency Care, and Diagnostic Services. The initial funding for the training is being provided by DFID via The British Council and June saw the first of the training sessions take place in Bolgatanga. 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. Dr Malvena Stuart Taylor (pictured left) was encouraged by the visit, ...I was inspired to be more driven in improving systems back home as I came across the genuine desire to learn, improve and grow amongst the Ghanaian staff who are working under such strain and with severely limited resources. The GAS Partnership is operating on a two year cyclical basis, working to tightly defined project plans . We are very proud to be associated with the partnership and look forward to seeing it develop and grow over the coming years.