Clinical Services
|
The NHS assists charities such as Facing the World which provides life-changing craniofacial surgery to some of the world’s most disadvantaged and vulnerable children
Charitable face of the NHS O
n top of their hard work caring for UK patients, nurses and doctors in the NHS often give their time
free of charge to help charities that are involved in important healthcare projects. Simon Eccles, a Consultant in
Craniofacial Surgery at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London, is also a trustee of Facing the World. The charity’s medical team offer facial reconstructive surgery in the UK for children from the developing world with severe facial disfigurements who cannot be treated in their home countries. The children come to the UK from
all over the world including Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq. Some are treated at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital where the NHS assists by providing theatres for operations which the charity pays for from its fundraising activities. Nurses and doctors give their time free of charge to carry out the surgery. The charity is also able to draw on the skills of experts in a wide range of specialties at the hospital and, as a result, the children are given a life-changing opportunity. Their young patients have included
a boy from Iraq who was born with a facial cleft that meant that parts of his face were not joined together.
Niall
Kirkpatrick, Chair of Facing The World’s trustees, operated on him at Chelsea & Westminster and he will return soon for further surgery. Trang, a young girl from Vietnam
diagnosed with a fibroblastoma, was brought to London for surgery. On her return she wrote to the surgical team to say: “I have a new face - a fantastic present. I want to express my gratitude to everybody who gave me the energy to overcome adversity.” Trang went on to be placed at the top of her university class and is leading a normal life. The children are selected on the basis
that the surgery will be life-changing. Simon Eccles was part of the team
that operated on conjoined twins Rital and Ritag from the Sudan. “Only one set of twins with this variant had been separated successfully,” says Mr Eccles. “We were fortunate that a sponsor hired a plane for us to bring them to the UK. Then we spent a few months planning the operation using complex computer techniques at the leading edge of technology. Although their heads were joined their brains were separate, but some of their blood vessels were entwined so we had to work out how to separate them without either killing or giving one of them a stroke.” The successful operations were carried
out at Great Ormond Street Hospital and funded by Facing The World. They made headline news around the world and now the twins are home in Sudan where they are thriving. During their time in Britain the children
42 Global Opportunity Healthcare 2015 | Issue 01
Right: Simon Eccles in clinic at the Danang Hospital during Facing the World’s programme
Below: Viet, a Facing the World patient, with his mother
attend the hospital school. On their return they are given iPads so they can keep in contact via Skype and email. They also continue their education remotely with their teachers in London. Facing The World is also involved in
sharing knowledge with surgeons in developing countries, principally Vietnam. Every year the team visits Danang in the centre of Vietnam where they teach the local doctors and nurses to care for patients with craniofacial anomalies that are prevalent, and thought to be as a result of the Agent Orange that remains in the soil following the Vietnam war in the 1970s. “Last year we had our first craniofacial
conference in Danang which allowed us to share what we know,” Simon Eccles says. “Local plastic surgeons and international speakers joined us and it was a way of demonstrating what we have all learned, as learning is a two way process. They are a very dedicated group of individuals as they want to look after the healthcare of their nation.” While the volunteer medical teams give
their time for free, Facing the World must still meet the hospital, travel, food and accommodation costs for the children and their parents or guardians. But for the teams involved in helping these youngsters, the reward is seeing them live happy and fulfilling lives.
Further information
www.facingtheworld.net
global-opportunity.co.uk
Facing The World
|
Facing The World
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128