Welbodi Partnership<\/a>. The contrast in jobs is great but I am excited about this new role.<\/p>\nI am keen\u00a0to find my way within the government system to contribute to bringing about positive change at the Children\u2019s Hospital. I am looking forward to working alongside the national doctors to assist them where needed and to help bring them a step closer to their pediatric training through the post-graduate training program that Welbodi has initiated. Part of this project will include the development of the x-ray department and laboratory in order to work towards accreditation of the hospital as a teaching hospital. Big tasks I know, but not impossible.<\/p>\n
I am also excited about teaching the nurses and encouraging them to carry out their nursing responsibilities well. I want the nursing staff to realise how important their job is and how we must all work together as a team in order to care for the patients well.<\/p>\n
And of course, I hope to be able to help the children of Sierra Leone. I would love to be as clinically involved as possible but, there are many other aspects of patient care that I can address\/influence such as: the use of fluid balance charts, proper use of medication charts, providing the hospital with more oxygen concentrators, introducing protocols to ensure standardized management, and good use of resources, etc.<\/p>\n
The challenges will be great, but overcoming them will be even greater. Undoubtedly, I will make mistakes along the way, but as long as I learn from them it will be okay. I am here for a year (at least) and I hope that when I look back at my time here I can be pleased that Ola During Children\u2019s Hospital has become a better place. Thankfully I am not on this journey alone and together with some key people in hospital management, the Welbodi team (on the ground and in the UK\/USA), Professor Tamra, the medical officers, dedicated nursing staff and key people in the ministry we can do this. We may take a few steps forward and then one step back, but we will continue to move forward. And one day, Ola During Children\u2019s Hospital will be a center of excellence in paediatric care.<\/p>\n
Sandra Lako<\/strong> is a doctor from the Netherlands who previously spent 4 \u00bd years in Sierra Leone setting up and managing a pediatric outpatient clinic with an organisation called Mercy Ships. After a year at home, she returned to Sierra Leone to volunteer as medical coordinator with the Welbodi Partnership, a UK-based charity supporting the only government-run children\u2019s hospital in a country where 1 in 5 children do not reach the age of five.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After being away from Sierra Leone for a year, it is good to be back. Previously I spent four and a half years in Sierra Leone working for an NGO, running an outpatient pediatric clinic. Now, I am working in the government-run Children\u2019s Hospital, volunteering as medical coordinator for a UK-based charity called the Welbodi […]<\/p>\n
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![\"Sandra](\"http:\/\/www.bmj.com\/columns\/icons\/sandra_lako.jpg\")
After being away from Sierra Leone for a year, it is good to be back.<\/p>\n