Our Lisa Fox has been in Nepal delivering Leadership and Measurement for Improvement workshops to HCAs in rural Nepal (Itahari) and Emergency Physicians in Chitwan Medical College.

Lisa - our Head of Clinical Information - and  a  member of the World Academy of Medical Leadership (WAML)  - said in rural Nepal minor emergencies can often turn into major emergencies due to the lack of first aid training. She says understanding different leadership styles helps empower  colleagues to make decisions in challenging circumstances.

The training for the Emergency Physicians was undertaken on the other side of the country, in Chitwan. These doctors are on an innovative four-year development programme  which involves training in Doncaster starting next month.

And Lisa's advice to them: " Bring a Big Coat" as  they'll be totally unused to Yorkshire winter weather. The WAML was there to deliver a measurement for improvement workshop to enable them to design their leadership thesis which they will do alongside their medical training in the UK and Nepal.

Nepal, like many developing countries has an evolving healthcare system which varies dramatically between the  urban and rural areas and whether or not it is a private or government-run facility. Many of the qualified doctors will train in Nepal but then come and work in the UK, USA or Australia. This programme looks to enable doctors to go back to Nepal in year four.  

Can you give examples of the healthcare gulf between Nepal and UK. There are different challenges, in Nepal good healthcare provision is mainly found in privately run hospitals but even in those there sanitation and equipment issues that provide challenges to be overcome although things are improving all the time. Healthcare provision very much relies on the ability to pay and  regardless of this another key development area at present is that there isn’t really an Emergency Department speciality in the way we understand it in the UK. This is a discipline that the UK-Nepal Collaboration looks to strengthen.

What was the nicest food you had? There is a traditional dish called Thali - Thali is the name of the round platter that is used to serve food and is also a term used to refer to an meal made up of a selection of various dishes which are served on that platter. As expected there was a richness to the curries that you just don’t find in the UK. I have also come home with a slight addiction to Masala Tea. If anyone in the hospital is able to make this in true Nepali style I would be more than happy to share a cuppa with them!

So, did she see  Everest?

No, we were the other side of the country. Despite what people might think, you can't see Everest from everywhere in Nepal!