UNISON YORKSHIRE & HUMBERSIDE GAMBIA PROJECT. Medical Supplies for Serrekunda Hospital. Annual Report 2017/18

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1 UNISON YORKSHIRE & HUMBERSIDE GAMBIA PROJECT Medical Supplies for Serrekunda Hospital Annual Report 2017/18

2 2 As you can see the replacement ambulances were desperately needed!

3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS UNISON Yorkshire and Humberside Region UNISON International Committee UNISON Sheffield Community Health Branch UNISON Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Branch UNISON Merseyside Police Staff Branch UNISON Mid Yorkshire Health Branch UNISON University of East London Branch UNISON Northern Ireland Region UNISON North Yorkshire Local Government Branch UNISON Manchester Branch UNISON Doncaster Local Government Branch UNISON Grimsby Health Branch UNISON Central Manchester Health Branch UNISON London Arts and Music Branch UNISON West Yorkshire Police Staff Branch UNISON Sheffield Metropolitan Branch UNISON York City Branch UNISON South Manchester Hospitals Branch UNISON South West Yorkshire Partnership Health Branch UNISON Scunthorpe Health Branch UNISON Hull and East Riding Health Branch UNISON Bradford Retired Members Branch UNISON Barnsley Hospitals Branch UNISON Hull Universities Branch UNISON Leeds Teaching Hospitals Branch UNISON Cymru / Wales Region ORGANISATIONS Yorkshire Ambulance Service Furniture for Education Worldwide Horbury Lawnmowers Sheffield Wednesday Football Club Hull Trades Council UK INDIVIDUALS Stephen Senior Keith and Sheila Bolam Victoria Audsley Deborah Wilcox Green Keith Harrison Kath Wilkinson and Janet Wilkinson Joan Franklin I Schofield Collette Senior Richard Walton Damian Tuxworth Alistair Tuxworth Julie Sugden John Cafferty Wendy Nichols John Campbell Islam Faqir J Schofield GAMBIA INDIVIDUALS Kebba Ceesay Kebba Maneh Maty Sow Essa Sowe Assan Faal Marie Antoinette Corr Thank you! 3

4 INTRODUCTION JIM BELL Welcome to this the third annual report of the Yorkshire and Humberside UNISON Gambia Project (formerly The Gambia Bijilo School Project). This report has been slightly delayed due to the planned activity crossing from 2017 into In our last report we identified the objective of sending a 40 foot container of medical equipment and supplies to Serekunda hospital. After a slow start we began to collect the goods which were obtained by UNISON branches and others which were stored in a sympathetic charity warehouse in Burnley called Furniture for Education Worldwide (FEW). Special thanks to Keith and Sheila Bolam for their tremendous support and guidance with the storage and transport paperwork. With the support of the region we were able to collect items such as specialist beds, drugs cabinets, boxes of bandages and other dressings, linen including towels donated by Sheffield Wednesday Football Club and a mobile generator from Hull Trades Council. There was also dozens of boxes of nurses shoes. The container lorry collected the supplies from Burnley on the 21st August. Loading the container was a mammoth task again thanks to the FEW volunteers. I need to be in Gambia at least a week before the ship arrives to arrange customs waivers and complete associated paperwork so I arrived on the 16th September. Unfortunately the ship was delayed at sea and did not arrive until two days before my return so there was a frantic rush to get it from the port to the hospital but we managed it (just). On the wish list of equipment requested by the hospital was the desperate need for an emergency ambulance. We were not optimistic but thanks to the efforts of Regional Secretary John Cafferty and Regional Convenor Wendy Nichols we actually obtained two emergency ambulances from Yorkshire Ambulance Trust which had finished their UK service. Whilst this was very welcome it created a raft of problems to take delivery and transport. The major problem was finance as within the region we had not budgeted for or raised enough to transport the ambulances. They were also too big to go in a container so had to be transported by low loader from Wakefield to Tilbury and then loaded on a ship. We made a special plea to 4

5 UNISON International Committee and we are grateful that they were able to underwrite the cost. The ambulances have been named after previous UNISON General Secretary Rodney Bickerstaffe and previous UNISON President Eric Roberts who himself worked for the London Ambulance Service. I am also grateful to the women of the Batley Pilates class for their donations of children s medicine and Horbury Lawnmowers for a cost price generator. The ambulances arrived in Banjul on the 18th February which coincidentally was the anniversary of the country s independence from the UK in Unfortunately one of the ambulances had been damaged in transit and required towing to the hospital by the other one. Not the arrival I had anticipated. The sump had to be removed and taken to a specialist welder then refitted. However nobody appeared to have checked the welders work before refitting and again the sump leaked so the repair had to be repeated. In addition somewhere between Wakefield and Banjul the tail lift control on the damaged ambulance had been lost or stolen as had the spare wheels. The ambulances were both made operational and formally handed over on the 6th March to Serekunda hospital board member Bertha Mboge who was the Gambia Chief Nurse before her retirement. Incidentally Bertha had previously worked at St James Hospital in Leeds for a few years. The A and E Chief Surgeon Dr Aladji Mane speaking at the handover said the ambulances would definitely save lives and the medical staff would make less life and death decisions based on transport availability to the main hospital in the capital. Going forward with your help we will continue humanitarian support but would also wish to assist trade union development in the new political climate. Jim Bell Project Organiser 5

6 WENDY NICHOLS Colleagues and Friends, We have yet again been hard at work trying to make a difference to our friends in Gambia and we could not do it without the support of many of our branches, the region and the International Committee. When Jim spoke to the doctors, the top of the wish list was an ambulance. We managed to donate two thanks to the Yorkshire Ambulance service. We then needed to secure the funding to get them to Gambia. I approached our International Committee and Jim Bell and John Cafferty put a bid together. My thanks go to the UNISON International Committee who agreed to fund our project. The container went out with much needed medical supplies and equipment for the Serekunda Hospital, the generosity of UNISON has made such a difference to many people in Gambia. As you know, we have recently lost two incredible people in Eric Roberts, our former president, and our former general secretary Rodney Bickerstaffe. So in honour of them we named one ambulance in memory of Eric, the other in memory of Rodney. We are now working with UNISON s international section to try and bring the Gambian trade unions together. We will continue to raise funds and would hope that you can continue to support our Gambia project. Best wishes and many thanks for your continued support and thanks to Jim Bell as without Jim s work the project would not run. Wendy Nichols UNISON Yorkshire & Humberside Convenor 6

7 Wendy Nichols, who had made the Bijilo school project her charity appeal when she was UNISON president, continues her support of the Gambia Project. 7

8 JOHN CAFFERTY The Yorkshire and Humberside Region Gambia Project has been ongoing now for six years and significant improvements have been made to both the Bijilo School and the Serekunda Hospital. As you know our initial efforts were directed towards the school where Jim Bell, our volunteer project co-ordinator, had already established contacts. This work culminated with Wendy Nichols, our Regional Convenor, then UNISON president, making the school improvements her Presidential Charity appeal. This enabled us to fund the building and furnishing of a block of four additional much needed classrooms. Although we maintain contact with the school and Jim does some short visits to see how they are doing we felt it was time to spread our efforts to other areas. So we identified improvements in Serekunda Hospital as a potential project and Jim and Wendy met the CEO of the Hospital and signed a memorandum of understanding. The Hospital gave us their wish list of requirements and, with the help of many branches and individuals in this region, we proceeded to fill containers to send over to the hospital. The efforts were significantly boosted when Yorkshire Ambulance Service agreed to sell us for 1 each (they can t give them away under NHS / government requirements) two emergency ambulances which were no longer in fleet service. We had the ambulances fully equipped and readied for service and then arranged to have them transported to the Gambia. The ambulances arrived earlier this year and have been put to good use as the previous vehicle the Hospital used was not fit for purpose. The Hospital staff have told Jim that these vehicles will save lives as they will improve their ability to bring patients in from outlaying areas and make the journey to the regional main hospital far easier and safer for patients. However, this humanitarian work, rewarding and fulfilling though it is, isn t all that we have been doing through this project. Jim had established contacts with the Health and Teaching Unions over the years he has been involved in the Gambia. After the change of President in last year s election, Jim started discussing with these trade unions the need for the equivalent of the TUC in the Gambia, currently there are four different TU bodies representing the TUs within the Gambia. Jim along with some assistance from PSI and US colleagues was able to assist with the discussions between these bodies and we have started to assist with the formation of a single TU body covering all Gambian TUs and secured office space and a temporary project worker for them. We want to continue with this work over the next few years 8

9 in addition to our continued humanitarian efforts. I want to conclude with a few thank you s and an appeal for continued assistance for this project. In particular a big thank you to Islam Faqir of Yorkshire Ambulance Service for his efforts to secure the fully equipped ambulances for us, to YAS itself for their help and generosity in giving us the ambulances and also to John Campbell and his colleagues in Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Branch who virtually filled a container with beds, blankets, towels, sheets and medical supplies. Thanks also to John Ingleson and colleagues in Leeds Teaching Hospitals branch for the donations of medical equipment. Thanks also to the too many to name branches and individuals for their contributions be they financial donations or supplies and equipment every contribution helps but we need much, much more so please keep them coming both cash and supplies are much needed and very welcome. John Cafferty UNISON Yorkshire & Humberside Regional Secretary 9

10 Hospital beds donated by Sheffield Community Health Trust. 10 A load of donated hospital furniture arrives in the Burnley depot of Furniture for Education Worldwide.

11 Items donated included linen, towels, bandages, swabs... Trolleys, chairs, bedside tables, nurses shoes... 11

12 Empty container ready to be filled! 12 A Generator kindly donated by Hull Trades Council

13 Fast work with the use of the right tools for the job. Huge thanks to Furniture for Education Worldwide. 13

14 The container loaded with donations from the UK......makes it to the Gambia. 14

15 The Chief Executive of Serrekunda Hospital is pictured with Jim Bell. The crew empty the container in no time and the equipment is Serrekunda Hospital bound. 15

16 16 Wendy Nichols with the two ambulances. One dedicated to Eric Roberts (above) and the other to Rodney Bickerstaffe.

17 Jim Bell handing over the keys to Serrekunda Hospital board member Bertha Mboge. 17

18 18 Quite a journey for these two ambulances...

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20 Your contribution to this project will make a huge difference. Cheques should be made payable to the Gambia Bijilo Project and sent to: Jim Bell, C/o Yorkshire and Humberside Regional Office, Commerce House, Wade Lane, Leeds LS2 8NJ.