Singleton GP prepares for new challenge in Africa
Thursday, 3 January 2019
A Swansea doctor will embark on a new challenge in Africa to help train the next generation of family and paediatric nurses.
Michael Bryant, from Singleton Hospital’s acute GP unit and his wife Bethany spent 12 months helping sick children in the medically deprived Kono district of Sierra Leone.
They established a dedicated children’s ward and introduced oxygen and transfusion systems to the ward, which has helped to save lives.
Now following a short stint back in Swansea, they plan to jet off once again, but this time to Liberia’s ELWA hospital.
Pictured right: Michael and health staff at Aberdeen Women's centre, where he worked before and during ebola
Michael said: “Following our work in Sierra Leone, we have been asked to get involved in developing the paediatric ward in ELWA hospital.
“It has a small paediatric ward already, but there is a lot of work to do around designing systems and organising ward rounds to train and develop staff.”
ELWA hospital is one of the main hospitals in Liberia.
It is less than 200 miles from the health centre Michael worked at in Kono, where he was the only GP.
He said: “When we first arrived in Kono, we had an empty room to work with.
“The lack of water, heating, electric and oxygen made it incredibly tough, and meant that I had to make hard-hitting decisions very quickly.
“I constantly had to think on my feet and come up with solutions for desperately sick babies very quickly.”
ELWA hospital was one of the worst hit by Ebola, but became very well-known as a centre where Ebola patients received great care.
The hospital is a lot larger than the Community Health Centre in Kono, which means there are a few more nurses and doctors.
Michael said: “Although there is more staff at ELWA compared to Kono, resources will still be scarce when patients are always more unwell, it’s not easy.”
Michael successfully introduced Emergency Triage Assessment and Treatment (ETAT) training to staff at the Kono centre.
The training programme taught staff how to best manage unwell children in resource-poor settings.
Pictured left: Michael presenting health staff in Kono with their ETAT certificates
He hopes that he can also implement the same at ELWA hospital.
He said: “Our ward in Kono had a mortality rate of less than 2% by the end of our time there, which was almost unheard of in West Africa.”
Michael is also eager to design community outreaches to identify unwell children early.
He said: “Often caregivers don't understand when their children are unwell so are not able to make it early into hospital, meaning that the children are often very sick and at risk of dying.
“We want to build partnerships with other charity hospitals across Liberia so we can all support each other as much as possible in these conditions.
Michael and Bethany are raising money to enable them to provide the best care whilst at the hospital.
Michael said: “Bethany and I are going to be running a series of park runs dressed up as Darth Vader through January to raise money.
“Each and every donation will be used to save children’s lives through implementing the ETAT training.
“The more we can raise the better! If we can raise enough to help by oxygen concentrators, medication and cover living costs that would be a huge bonus!”.
If you’d like to help, you can donate here.
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