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Taking the path less trodden: UK psychiatrists working in low- and middle-income countries

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Peter Hughes
Peter Hughes*
Affiliation:
Balham and Tooting CMHT, Old Estates Building, Springfield University Hospital, 61 Glenburnie Road, London SW17 7DJ, email: peter.hughes@swlstg-tr.nhs.uk
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Information
Psychiatric Bulletin , Volume 33 , Issue 2 , February 2009 , pp. 76 - 77
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2009

The project run in Ghana by the South West London and St George's Mental Health National Health Service (NHS) Trust, Royal College of Psychiatrists and Challenges Worldwide, is a good model for developing opportunities for UK psychiatrists to practise in low- and middle-income countries (Psychiatric Bulletin, November 2008, 32, 431–435).

Higher specialist psychiatry trainees may spend 3 months in Ghana in psychiatry services as part of their training time. The aim is to provide a sustainable and continuing link between the UK and Ghana, based on development need, safety and Ghanaian population locally in south-west London.

We have been focusing on training the medical assistant level cadre in accordance with the general principles of development need and the wishes of our partners in Ghana. We have also focused on facilitating local improvement of ward systems.

We feel that this type of partnership is a good model for those interested in gaining overseas experience. We would recommend it to other health trusts in the NHS as a workable model of following through the Crisp report (Reference Crisp2007). It ensures that the input of the trainee is sustainable, helpful and not an encumbrance on the local host.

There are instances of professionals setting up their own projects overseas in low- and middle-income countries. Although some projects work, many do not. It can be very difficult to sustain a project without a sufficient level of support and back-up.

Acknowledgements

We thank Dr Osei of Accra Psychiatric Hospital for hosting our trainees as well as Eoghan Mackie of Challenges Worldwide. We acknowledge and thank the London Deanery and the South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust for enabling this project to continue.

References

Crisp, N. (2007) Global Health Partnerships: the UK Contribution to Health in Developing Countries. Central Office of Information.Google Scholar
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