A nurse all the way from Malawi has spent some valuable time with colleagues at Fife hospitals.
Mwandida Nkhoma visited the NHS Fife palliative care team thanks to support from the Edinburgh-based charity EMMS International.
During the visit, she saw first-hand how palliative care is supported and delivered in hospice, community, day hospice and acute hospital settings.
She also spent time with nurses, doctors and several other members of the multidisciplinary team, including chaplaincy, dietetics, pharmacy and occupational therapy.
NHS Fife hope the visit has provided an opportunity for an exchange of skills and ideas from both sides and reflects the partnership that Scotland and Malawi have shared since Dr David Livingstone’s famed expedition to the country.
Nurse Nkhoma said she had been “very grateful” for the opportunity to visit Fife.
“Access to quality palliative care in Malawi is a major problem due to a lack of resources, including specialised practitioners and pain medication,” she said.
“Palliative care in Fife is more comprehensive than Malawi because their team comprise of different specialities which is a big difference to Malawi.
“They have a wide range of drugs available, making them very flexible in their prescription.
“However, principles of palliative care delivery are the same, what differs is the way we deliver it in developed and developing countries.”
Dr Joanna Bowden, who hosted Nurse Nkhoma’s time with the team, said: “It has been our great pleasure to spend time with Mwandida and to start the conversation about how we can forge a meaningful partnership between our clinical services.
“We have more common ground that either of us anticipated and we believe that our teams can learn a great deal from each other.
“Improving access to, and quality of, palliative care is a global priority and we look forward to supporting each other in this shared endeavour.”
Nurse Nkhoma visited Scotland to promote EMMS International’s “Every Life Matters” campaign to improve healthcare in Malawi.
The campaign has the backing of the UK Government which will match donations from the public pound for pound.
In Malawi, cancer diagnoses have more than doubled in the last decade.
By 2021, an estimated 180,000 patients and their families will need palliative care.
Across Africa, cancer cases are increasing rapidly, placing a further burden on already stretched health services.
EMMS International’s campaign will raise money to train more healthcare workers, improve access to healthcare for 10,000 patients and support 50,000 family members to grow their own food.
James Wells, EMMS International chief executive, added: “EMMS International is committed to training more specialist healthcare workers in Malawi to end hidden suffering.
“Mwandida’s visit to Scotland is an opportunity to share how important that work is.”
