NHS TRUSTS JOIN TOGETHER IN PARTNERSHIP TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE AND SAVE LIVES IN CAMBODIA

A team of nurses from University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation (UHMBT) led by UHMBT's Executive Chief Chief Nurse, Sue Smith are in Cambodia this week to share their experience and knowledge with their Cambodian colleagues. The team have travelled to The Battambang Referral Hospital which is in the Battambang Province of Cambodia with the charity Transform Healthcare Cambodia.

Sue Smith - one of the founders and Directors of the charity, is joined by UHMBT specialist endoscopist nurse - Tracy Earle and Jennifer Woodburn - an Intensive Care Unit nurse at The Royal Lancaster Infirmary, also part of UHMBT. Jennifer is a recent graduate from UCLAN - having graduated just three years ago. The team have been joined by Dr. Rebecca Parker, a Anaesthetist Doctor from North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Trust. Dr Parker has been instrumental in writing, designing and delivering the training materials - which she delivered with Jennifer and Tracy throughout the week - to train sixty Khmer healthcare staff and medical students. The team are being supported by Khumer translators Chamroeun Chea and KimLeng Chong and Mr Leng.

All of the British team have given up their time for free - using annual leave or taking unpaid leave and also funded their own trips to Cambodia. Transform Healthcare Cambodia paid to have the teaching materials translated, for the purchase of local supplies to support delivery of clinical care and also paid for the three translators to work alongside the charity and their Khmer clinicians.

Sue Smith said: "The team have really enjoyed working alongside our colleagues in Cambodia and sharing their clinical and professional experience to empower them to improve health care whilst gaining a better understanding of working within a challenging, often under resourced environment, whilst being respectful of cultural differences. We have been encouraged to walk around the wards and we were able to identify resources that were needed. The charity have purchased 20 resuscitation boxes so every ward now has these, brushes for cleaning equipment, nasal cannulae and suction tubing. Resources are such in Cambodia that often, things such as suction tubing are cleaned and re-used. These small things we can do will make a big difference."

To find out more about Transform Healthcare Cambodia, visit www.transformhealthcarecambodia.org.uk or follow Transform Healthcare Cambodia on Facebook: www.facebook.com/transformhealthcarecambodia - You can also follow the charity's work on Twitter - www.twitter.com/THCambodia