Marking 15 years of partnership in Malawi | News

Marking 15 years of partnership in Malawi

Since joining together in 2004 a total of 122 staff exchanges have taken place, which has seen some of our nurses, doctors, physiotherapists and play specialists visit the country to share learning between health professionals to improve education, capacity and the experiences of patients.

The partnership, which is supported by our charity, has also helped share and increase knowledge with trips led by our consultants from our Respiratory, Haematology and Neurology services over the years.

Families in Malawi face a number of challenges with high rates of infant mortality, HIV and malaria. Over the last 15 years the partnership has also had staff from QECH spend time at our Children’s Hospital to learn about the approaches and systems we use in this country.

The project has also played a key role in helping train the first Malawian Paediatric Consultants and the development of a sustainable continual professional development course that has successfully secured a number of high-profile grants including from the Tropical Health and Education Trust (THET) and the Burdett Nursing Fund.

Anna Tailby, our Trust’s co-lead for the Malawi Partnership said:

“Living and working in Malawi has been the highlight of my nursing career, I learnt more than I could have imagined from the wonderful team there who are caring for hundreds of extremely ill children every day.

I improved my resuscitation, leadership and communication skills, which has led to me fulfilling my dream of becoming an Advanced Nurse Practitioner once I returned to Birmingham. Malawi is a beautiful and friendly country and I enjoyed exploring the mountains, lake and safaris.”

The successful partnership continues and continues to provide six to 12 month volunteer placements for our clinical staff to work alongside the team in Malawi, along with two to three week Consultant-led speciality training trips.

There are lots of ways you can get involved, from fundraising by getting involved in our fun events to joining our exchange programme. Our programme provides 6-12 months volunteer placements for clinical staff to live and work in Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre, Malawi and 2-3 week Consultant-led specialty teaching trips.

Applications are welcome from staff from all departments. Volunteers can take the time off as a sabbatical from their job, or an Out of Program Experience (OOPE) for trainees. The partnership can kindly support them with a grant to cover living and travel expenses.

A full program of support is available pre-departure, during the placement and on return to the UK from our experienced team.

For more information visit our Intranet or email: bwc.malawi@nhs.net

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