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| April 2013
Report - Work now started in northern Uganda |
| At the
beginning of April, our new unit opened in northern Uganda. We
had planned as much as we could; there were still outstanding
issues and potential problems, but the need was there, we had
been given the funding, and we decided on a leap of faith to
start a work which will now be carefully evaluated. |
| We had hoped to
have an inpatient unit. There are two clinics close together at
Minakulu, south of Gulu. One, where we had previously run
clinics every two months, offered to provide rooms for
outpatient treatment. The other, a government centre, offered us
staff accommodation and a small building which could serve as an
inpatient unit. The final step was to sign a Memorandum of
Understanding with both of them, but at this point the offer of
rooms for outpatient work was withdrawn. The District Health
Officer was still very keen to have Acheru there so the
Memorandum of Understanding was signed with the government
centre, and staff recruitment started. Three appointments were
made (physiotherapist, orthopaedic officer, nurse) to work
alongside the Community Based Rehabilitation worker we already
had in the north. While they worked for a time at Acheru to get
used to how we did things, Sam took care of preparing the
buildings, and I sent out the equipment. The building which we
had originally intended as an inpatient unit has to serve now
for outpatient work, so at present there is no provision for
inpatients. It’s a good start, but means most patients
needing surgery will have to travel to Acheru. |
| There has now
been another development; Sam has travelled around the area
promoting the work and making connections, and a surgeon at a
rural hospital 25km away has offered to do some surgery. This
will be a big help, meaning fewer children having to make the
long journey south. |
| Acheru has been
doing more work with amputees, with good results. We’ve a
separate ‘appliance’ fund, and they are having
artificial limbs produced at modest cost. The last one I saw
details of was for a girl who had an amputation above the knee
and the artificial leg, which she quickly got used to, cost £85,
of which her family contributed £25. A very cost effective
way of making her mobile and enabling her to lead a fuller life. |
| We are now
monitoring all the work, looking at numbers treated and quality
of outcome to ensure first of all that Acheru is functioning as
effectively as possible, and then to think about possible areas
of improvement. |
| Brian Dorman |
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