Surrey hospital surgeons to train Ugandan medical staff

The surgical team will train medical staff at the Mulago Hospital in Kampala

A Surrey surgical team is flying out to Africa to help local medical staff improve their surgical, anaesthetic and nursing skills.

The ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialists from the Royal Surrey County Hospital are travelling to Mulago Hospital in Kampala, Uganda.

The seven-strong team will also be conducting surgery in some of the more remote parts of the country.

They will be joining a project which has been running for 15 years.

San Sunkaraneni, a consultant ENT surgeon, said: "We will be treating patients but the main emphasis is on training the local surgeons, anaesthetists and nursing staff in the most up to date techniques, bearing in mind the limited facilities they have."

The Uganda Healthcare Project is run mainly with Canadian doctors and the Surrey team said they hoped to create a group from the UK which could return to Uganda each year.

A spokeswoman for the hospital said the team then hoped eventually to go to other countries, including India.

The team members were taking annual leave in order to make the week-long trip.

Mandy Vincent, a specialist nurse, said: "We don't quite know what we will be faced with having never seen the facilities before, but it's an amazing opportunity for us as healthcare professionals."