Specialist surgery in the developing world: luxury or necessity?

Abstract

SummaryPatients suffering from conditions requiring specialist intervention cannot obtain treatment when facilities do not exist locally. Specialist visiting teams in a number of surgical disciplines have attempted to address these issues in collaboration with local clinicians. These interventions require careful planning and communication to achieve optimum results. Several teams have been successful in building long-term relationships that have lead to important clinical developments in the local country.

Paediatric surgery and anaesthesia in south-western Uganda: a cross-sectional survey

“…21,42,43 Local clinicians can benefit from the valuable training opportunity offered by partnering with visiting specialists. 21,25,44 Task shifting has been suggested as a solution to workforce shortages in some areas, but support and supervision are needed to maintain the standards of care. 27,28 Although many anaesthesia providers in our study expressed the wish to have modern anaesthesia machines, this may not be feasible at present due to infrastructural limitations (reliance on electricity, pressurised oxygen supply and sophisticated maintenance).…”

Experience of collaboration between a Dutch surgical team in a Ghanaian Orthopaedic Teaching Hospital

“…Realizing where healthcare was 10 years ago and where it is now, confirms that the relief provided by institutions like Care-to-Move are very valuable and essential to improve the level of healthcare 1,6,8,12 . The foundation Careto-Move has been involved in improving the St. Joseph's orthopaedic Hospital in Effiduase-Koforidua, Ghana, since 2005.…”

“…A fast improvement of the knowledge concerning orthopaedic and trauma principles in St. John of God Hospital in Koforidua is seen. Nevertheless, the overall level of quality of care still lags behind compared to what we see in the Western world 1,[10][11][12] . This is mainly due to financial constraints with the result of restricting the capacity to purchase good equipment, deteriorating maintenance, and moderate and unreliable education.…”

“…Many countries in the developing world face a significant challenge in providing effective primary healthcare 1,2 . Surgery is an indivisible, indispensable part of healthcare 3,4,5,6,7 .…”

“…Therefore it is of great importance that healthcare continues to improve. This is partially achieved by the intensive collaboration between specialized teams from Western countries (United States/ Europe/ Australia) and the local African hospital teams 1,6,8,12 . Such collaboration exists between various Dutch hospitals and St. Joseph's Hospital in Effiduase-Koforidua.…”