Medical teams in Alder Hey have worked in partnership with their counterparts in Kanti children’s hospital over many years. We have contributed to many positive changes and some of these are highlighted below.
Emergency Department
Alder Hey’s emergency consultants have helped establish a triage system in the emergency department at Kanti. Previously, children were treated according to the order in which they arrived at the hospital.
With so many children to see, this meant that many sick children would not be seen in a timely way with potentially devastating consequences.
A system of Red/Yellow/Green zones was introduced on the basis of need so that very ill children would be placed in the red zone and seen very quickly.
Burns
The burns partnership has arranged fellowships for six burn surgeons, a burns nurse and theatre nurse from Kanti.
As a result of this partnership, five Kanti staff were founder members of the Nepal Burn Society and started networking with other burn staff across Kathmandu.
The pain relief given to children was improved for dressing changes meaning less pain and suffering on the ward.
The mortality rate on the ward fell from around 6% in 2008 to 1% in 2018.
Childhood Cancer
STCML funded Kanti’s first oncologist Dr Kailash Sah to receive a year’s training in India, after time spent with our trustee Prof Barry Pizer in 1997.
Prof Pizer has supported the development of cancer protocols ensuring the best evidence based care for children with cancer.
For the most common cancer, acute lympoblastic leukaemia, it is estimated that the survival in Kanti has increased from around 20% to 40% between 2000 and 2015.
STCML has also contributed to funding in 2018 for additional training for the recently -appointed consultant oncologist Dr Bishnu Giri in India.
In 2020, STCML funded the salary of a full time data manager for the cancer service.
