Birmingham Children's Hospital renal nurses share knowledge with Kolkata hospital
Two Birmingham Children’s Hospital renal nurses travelled to India to share knowledge for patients on dialysis.
Kristina Abbott, Home Haemodialysis Specialist Nurse, and Sarah Taylor, Community Liaison Sister travelled to the Institute of Child Health, Kolkata to share their knowledge with staff who are caring for patients with kidney conditions, many needing renal dialysis.
The hospital is a sister centre to the renal unit at the Children’s, and have collaborated for over ten years, hosting many visiting staff from India during that time. This visit marks the first occasion that renal nurses have travelled to them, made possible through the support of Dr Mordi Muorah, nephrologist, and Carmel Capelett, Advanced Clinical Practitioner. Carmel coordinated the timing of the trip with Phil Wilson, Head of Nursing for Surgery at the Children’s, and organised cover for the unit while Kristina and Sarah were away.
Kristina said: “It was a real eye opener. They do a huge amount with the resources they have and have children travelling from as far as 60 to 70km for dialysis. The staff were really welcoming and enthusiastic to learn from us.”
Sarah said : “The staff were keen to learn from us about infection‑risk reduction and our procedures. We joined their study day, presented Home Dialysis and our equipment, and shared our training package. Some suggestions were already in place by the time we left”.
The trip also gave the team chance to speak to patients and ask questions about their experiences.
Sarah added: “It highlighted the importance of sustainability and the need to be resourceful with supplies, and we recognised how hard the staff worked to manage an environment that was small with limited equipment and resources.”
Kristina and Sarah are still in touch with their Indian counterparts and, once they returned home, the nurses were asked to devise a module so the Kolkata staff could become accredited and improve their skills.
