Grand Round celebrates long‑standing Malawi partnership and shared learning
A Grand Round held at Birmingham Children’s Hospital has celebrated more than two decades of partnership working with Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH) in Blantyre, Malawi, highlighting the impact of shared learning, staff exchanges and sustainable global health collaboration.
The event on 14 January 2026, chaired by Dr Deepthi Jyothish, Consultant Paediatrician and UK lead of the partnership, brought together medics, nurses and allied health professionals to reflect on the achievements of the Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospital (BWC) – QECH Malawi Partnership, first established in 2004. It also marked the publication of the BWC- QECH Malawi Partnership Report 2025, which includes findings from a formal partnership evaluation carried out in 2020.
Opening the session, Dr Jyothish described the partnership as one of the longest‑running paediatric global health partnerships in the UK, built on mutual respect, reciprocity and a shared commitment to improving child health through education and capacity building.
“This partnership has never been about one organisation ‘helping’ another,” she said. “It is about learning together, understanding each other’s health systems, and building sustainable change that benefits patients and staff in both Malawi and Birmingham.”
Presentations covered the evolution of the partnership over more than 20 years, during which around 120 exchange placements have taken place between BWC and QECH. These have included nurses, doctors, allied health professionals and other staff working and learning alongside colleagues in very different clinical and resource settings.
Dr Josephine Langton, Consultant Paediatrician at QECH and Malawi lead of the partnership, reflected on how the partnership has supported the development of paediatric services in Malawi, including the growth of subspecialties such as cardiology and the expansion of senior nursing leadership.
“What has made this partnership endure is consistency and trust,” Dr Langton said. “BWC has stayed the course through challenges such as COVID‑19, staffing pressures and funding constraints, and that long‑term commitment has made a real difference.”
A powerful element of the Grand Round was hearing directly from clinicians who have spent time working at QECH in Malawi, many of whom described the experience as professionally and personally transformative.
Speakers shared stories of delivering care in challenging circumstances, adapting clinical practice when resources are limited, and learning from Malawian colleagues’ resilience, teamwork and clinical judgement. Several reflected on how the experience had strengthened their leadership skills, renewed their motivation for paediatrics and changed the way they practice back in the UK.
One nurse described the placement as “career‑defining”, while a paediatric resident said working in Malawi reminded them “why I went into medicine in the first place”.
These reflections echoed findings from the 2020 Partnership Evaluation, which showed that staff on both sides reported improvements in clinical skills, confidence, autonomy and morale, as well as benefits for patient care. The evaluation also highlighted how participation in the partnership has supported career development, teaching skills and research activity at BWC.
Dr Jyothish was joined by Chief Nurse and Midwifery Officer for BWC, Daljit Athwal, who closed the event by thanking all staff who have contributed to the partnership over the years, both in Birmingham and Malawi.
“This partnership shows what is possible when global health work is done properly – with humility, mutual learning and a long‑term commitment to people,” she said. “The impact is felt not just overseas, but every day in our wards and clinics here in Birmingham.”