Recent Trips and Achievements
2016 Midwifery PPH conference.
Laura Aspinall and Laura Blackmore two of the Midwifery Trustees for HHH led a team of 12 Midwives and ran a 2 day PPH conference.
The World Health Organisation WHO state that Haemorahage is still the leading direct cause of Maternal death in Sub-Saharan Africa so this seemed a logical place to start. Chris Butt and Nikki Perret Green along with Caroline Crosbie-Dawson taught on the 2 day event.
The event taught local Midwves from Hoima Regional Referral Hospital and Azur Christian Health Clinic vital skills using basic equipment that the local Midwives reported that they could source in emergencies.
The effectivness of Bi-
Manual compression was discussed at length and suturing workshops were practiced.
Arriving after the 2016 Paed and Anaesthetic trip also meant we could help with the strategic move to the new buildings in Hoima.
2016 Joint Paediatric and Anaesthetic Trip
Lorraine Major, Trish Le Flufy (paed nurses) and Richard Thomas (anaesthetist) 3 of HHH Trustees took out a team to assist the transition into the new buildings at Hoima referral hospital.
New buildings funded by the Japanese were errected in Hoima and a strategic plan as to where and who was moving was carried out by the staff at Hoima and assisted by our HHH team from the UK.
The team helped move equipment, clean wards and transfer patients. They could assist with clinical care whilst in the transition of moving. An exciting time for Hoima and indeed well deserved.
February 2018 Paediatric and Midwifery Trip
Anne Reilly led a team of nurses, midwives and obstetricans in February 2018.
The team worked mainly in the paediatric, neonatal, maternity and theatre departments.
Two students taught Ele, a theatre nurse, how to make alcohol handgel locally so it could be made within Hoima hospital. Ele had been asking for some time to get the project underway, so they were able to take out some equipment, recipe and designed local labelling.
The team also had 30 sets of theatre gowns and drapes made locally, as the lack of supplies meant surgery was delayed due to the turnaround time in washing and sterilizing. Lives were being lost due to the delays.
November 2018 Paediatric and Surgical Trip
Anne Reilly, one of our Paed Nurse Trustees along with Joy Murphy, our Adult Nurse Trustee took out a small team in November 2018.
Hoima Regional Referral hospital had a major problem with their autoclave whilst Anne and Joy were in Hoima and it meant that theatre cases were being cancelled leaving patients in danger because of cancellation of vital surgeries. The autoclave ensures sterility of theatre equipment and is an essential piece of equipment.
Anne set up a fundraising page and raised enough money to replace this equipment. Hoima Referral Hospital were so appreciative and we were delighted to be able to help.
The team also had a volunteer from security go out for the first time, who was able to assess and advice and give some conflict management training.
February 2019 Midwifery and Obstetric team
Emma led a team of midwives, an obstetrician, an anaesthetist and 2 ODP's.
They spent most of their time working in theatres and within the maternity department.
They were able to teach how to use the new ventouse kits that were taken out and were able to follow up on earlier projects.
October 2019 Team
Joy led a team of 7, consisting of nurses, a doctor, a play specialist / teacher and a student.
They received a very warm welcome from the staff at HRRH, and spent our time on the surgical, medical ward, nutrition unit, Azur Christian Health Clinic and Little Hospice Hoima. Joy and Anne were on the surgical ward, which has many challenges, lack of store supply’s, bandages, antibiotics and IV fluids, all these things and more are reliant on government central stores in Kampala.
Kate, a nurse, who has been to Hoima before and with Dr Mary spent time looking after a sick boy at Azur clinic and with the nutrition unit at HRRH. They reported the nutrition unit is very well run and a model for other units. They both went on outreach to Runga doing ante natal and immunisation clinics.
Jo worked mostly in the hospice and with the outreach team at HRRH. Paula and Leo also visited St John Bosco school and were so moved at seeing the empty shelves and poor decor that they helped staff scrub and paint 2 rooms and bought a load of books to create a library.
The team noticed that a lot of dressing/medicine trolleys on the wards and A&E trollys had broken wheels. The charity is funding their repair along with painting these trolleys and the beds on the paediatric ward.