THET

Ghana, Upper West Region-Scotland, Inverness

At a glance

Fields of work: Education, Emergency medicine, Maternal and Child Health, Mental Health, Nursing, Primary Health Care, Research

UK Link Partner: Network of Individuals, NHS Trust, University
UK Link Partner County: Inverness-shire

Developing Country Link Partner: Ministry, Network of Individuals, Professional Association, Public Hospital/Clinic, University
Developing Country Link Partner: Ghana

Year Established: 2008

Link Details

This is an established Link between two regions in Scotland and Ghana that are geographically similar in that they are rural and remote. The overall purpose of the Link is to establish a reciprocal and beneficiary relationship towards the improvement of health delivery and outcomes. Seed corn money from THET helped facilitate a shared scoping exercise in 2009 to identify healthcare delivery needs for the Upper West Regional Hospital and outlying areas. Three main clinical areas were identified- accident and emergency, midwifery and mental health. This scooping exercise is attached.

In 2010, a team of 5 visited the regional hospital in Wa (UWR) and provided on-site accident and emergency training. Student nurses in their 3rd year were part of this team having chosen to complete their elective in the UWR and self funded their visit. The project also benefited from a small BMA grant and money from NHS Highand Endowment Fund. The outcomes of this visit included enhancing relationships across the link and further identification of capacity building and training needs. This report will be available soon.

A further visit to the UWR (Wa and Tamale) was executed in September- October 2010 supported by a 3-year grant from the British Council (deLPHE Grant). This grant will focus on education and training for midwives and mental health nurses framed within action research. The recent visit included a number of significant meetings.  In Accra meetings were held with the Ministry of Health and other government departments, and the Nurses and Midwives Council of Ghana. This was to discuss the major health needs, human resource for health challenges in Ghana, nursing and midwifery regulations and training and policy directions of the Ministry of Health. In Wa (UWR) a meeting with all partners and wider stakeholders was held at the Regional Hospital to discuss and agree shared project outcomes. Mentorship training was conducted for 25 clinicians and tutors in midwifery in rural health facilities in the Upper West region. An action research workshop was conducted for over 60 health workers, lecturers, tutors and students from Northern and Upper West regions – held at the University of Development Studies in Tamale. There was also the signing of an MOU between University of Stirling, Scotland, NHS Highland, The Ghana Diaspora and University for Development Studies (UDS), Ghana. This received press coverage and was reported in the Ghana Times. A report on this visit will be available soon.

Further work will be progressed to support mental health nursing and midwifery in the North; to increase the mental health nurse ratio in the UWR; to examine recruitment and retention issues in the Scottish Highlands and Northern Ghana; and to develop innovative ways to provide knowledge exchange activities at a distance. Visits by UDS staff and UWR health care staff to University of Stirling and NHS Highland are also planned.

Contact Details

Additional Information

Dr Dennis Tracey
Consultant in Public Health Medicine / Clinical Lead Long Term Conditions Collaborative,
NHS Highland,
Assynt House,
Beechwood Park,
INVERNESS,
IV2 3BW
SCOTLAND
tel: **44 (0)1463 704817
fax:**44 (0)1463 717666

James Antwi
MOH
Ghana
jantwi23@hotmail.com