Hospital Project
Nandom Hospital
Nandom Hospital is situated in the Upper West Region of Ghana, West Africa. The area is remote with poor roads and is a 3-day drive from Accra. The local community are poor subsistence farmers who rely totally on their crops for survival.
A Team of Doctors, Dentists and Nurses first visited the hospital in
June 2005 and presented 2,000 bed sheets.
Lengthy discussions were held
with the Hospital Doctor and managers about the needs of Nandom and the
team from Northampton formulated a 5-year action plan.
The hospital was run-down and basic equipment was scarce. Only 11 nurses worked at the hospital, all were elderly with little formal training. There was 1 Doctor who worked 24/7 and the area was neglected by the government, despite a catchment population of 200,000.
Achievements so far:
- 2,000 bed sheets donated
- Ambulance provided
- Sponsorship for 12 nurses to be trained to RGN/Diploma level, bonded to Nandom Hospital for five years after qualification
- 3 containers with medical equipment, drugs and bicycles have been distributed
- A sustainable NHS Health link has been established with Northampton General Hospital
- A dental suite was commissioned in October 2007 providing basic dental extractions - Nandom has never had a dental service, the nearest is 50 miles away
- Funds have been raised to build a Kitchen in the hospital grounds
- A farm project has been established to provide food for the kitchen
Hopes for the future:
-
The kitchen will provide 1 meal per day to all in-patients - Specialist Teams will regularly carry out surgery – particularly Ophthalmology, Head & Neck, Anaesthetic services and Orthopaedics
- The Hospital infrastructure will be improved
- Laboratory services will be developed
- Doctors will want to work at Nandom Hospital and stay in the area
- We will continue to work in collaboration with other NGOs in the area and government officials
For more about the work of our dental surgeons on our last visit in 2007 please see the article written for the BBC website at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7115662.stm by our very own Lily Canter.