RETHINKING GOOD INTENTIONS
As many of you know, we were fortunate to have Professor Emeritus Nancy Edwards as our key speaker at the Friends of Nixon AGM in November. She shared her experiences of working in Sierra Leone as well as reading excerpts from the book she wrote of her time there. She has since written a play based on her memoirs called ‘Rethinking Good Intentions’, focussing on the community health work she was involved in during her time in Sierra Leone. She is spending the summer season performing this at Fringe Festivals, including the Buxton Fringe Festival. This will involve two live performances as well as a recording available to be viewed on the Buxton Fringe Festival website.
Nancy is able to suggest to her audiences a relevant charity to donate to at the end of her performances and has very generously chosen Friends of Nixon.
Nancy will also be bringing her play on tour to the UK in the Autumn and is keen to engage with any churches or groups interested in hosting a performance. If you know of a venue or a church interested in this please contact Nancy directly.
If you wish to find out more about Nancy and her experiences and current work, or get in touch with her directly you can do so via her website www.nancyedwards.ca
VOLUNTARY DOCTORS AT NIXON
After deciding to resume our programme of offering bursaries to medics and healthcare professionals earlier in the year we have been approached by a number of doctors eager to offer their skills and expertise to Nixon Hospital.
Dr Emma Butterfield arrived in Segbwema in March and has already made a big impression sharing her expertise to both support patient care and develop skills of the healthcare professionals at the hospital.
She was joined this week by Dr Trevor Tan. Having just completed the Diploma in Tropical Medicine at Liverpool, he brings a fresh insight into the potential challenges Sierra Leone faces.
We are keen to continue this success of supporting the hospital with voluntary medics. If you know anyone who may be interested please share our advert with them!
SOLAR POWER DEVELOPMENTS
Friends of Nixon are excited to be supporting the next phase of the hospital’s solar project, including an extension to the solar panel field and new batteries for the solar system being installed. This will both improve patient care, providing 24 hour light and power for medical equipment on the wards and in the laboratory as well as enhancing living experiences for staff and visitors.
BLOOD BANK PROJECT IN PROGRESS
We are working on obtaining a new blood bank for the laboratory at Nixon Hospital. This will enable storage of blood units for blood transfusions, and will help to make the overall transfusion process safer and more efficient. Currently there is no blood fridge at the lab’ so in order to offer transfusions to patients, family members of the patient are tested for a suitable blood group match and their blood is collected and transfused directly after collection. This can cause significant delays for patients requiring urgent transfusions and also increases risk of human error when testing multiple family members at one time. Any delays in transfusion of these blood units can also compromise the quality of the blood, which should be stored at an appropriate temperature. This new blood fridge will enable longer term storage of blood units that will be available for use as soon as a patient is in need of a transfusion.
DR JENNY GIBSON MEMORIAL
On the 18th of March 2021, a memorial service was held at the Nixon Methodist Memorial Hospital to remember
Dr Jennifer Gibson who worked at the hospital for many years, including during some of Sierra Leone’s most difficult times. A plaque was erected in her memory at the outpatient department; a place where she devoted her time and significant knowledge to help patients from Segbwema and further afield. Her commitment and care left an indelible impression upon the history of the hospital and more widely within Sierra Leone.
NIXON PROJECTS IN PRINT
After spending time at Nixon Memorial Hospital, two volunteers have both had recent publications - congratulations!
Dr Ed Monk and team have had their mapping project research paper published in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene journal which you can read here.
Michaela Fitzpatrick-Milton has had a report from her time in Segbwema published in the Association for Clinical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine News which you can read here (page 18).
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