A team of local health professionals are to travel to Northern Uganda to share their skills.

University Hospitals Dorset’s Poole Africa Link (PAL) team will be leaving for Lira on Saturday 1 October. It will be their first trip in over three years due to restrictions caused by the pandemic.

The team will be teaching at Lira University, Lira University Hospital and Lira Referral Hospital. They will also be taking out various items of kit for colleagues already out there.

The two-week tour will be led by Dr Frankie Dormon (intensivist). Other team members, all joining PAL for the first time, are Dr Luke Turley (GP), Dr Pasco Hearn (consultant microbiologist), Dr Ben Cambers (anaesthetist), Emily Seddon (midwife) and Rosie Farnworth (midwife). They will join Judy Mella (surgeon), who has been involved with PAL for several years and who is currently undertaking a breast care project in Lira.

Perinatal mental health lead midwife Emily said: “I am very excited to be taking my first visit to Uganda with PAL. I am looking forward to sharing the presentations I’ve been working on, teaching at the university, and talking to the students about their learning experiences.

“I am excited about going to the hospital and having the opportunity to see the similarities and differences to the care offered in the UK. This trip is a privilege and I am looking forward to taking as much from it as I can and will share my experiences with everyone on our return. We have a really strong, enthusiastic team and I’m looking forward to getting to know everyone better. I feel incredibly lucky to be taking this trip, one that has been a career long dream.”

You can find out more on www.pooleafricalink.org.uk.

You can follow the team’s activities in Lira via the Poole Africa Link Facebook page or follow them on Twitter @poole_africa

For more information contact Hilary Fenton-Harris, Poole Africa Link coordinator hilary.fenton-harris@uhd.nhs.uk