Ghana Hub Orchestrates CPD Accredited Workshop on Surgical Site Infections (SSI's)
Ghana Hub collaborates with the Ghana Surgical Research Society, Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons, and the Ghana Chapter of West Africa to deliver workshop on SSI’s.
The workshop that took place on the 19th August in Kumasi brought together various health workers that included surgeons, anaesthetists, nurses and perioperative nurses from across Ghana who took part in the event that utilised results from the completed CHEETAH trial. Also in attendance was the President of the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons, Prof. Samuel Debrah who delivered a keynote speech during the event, in addition to a presentation from Dr. Napoleon Sam of the NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Global Surgery Ghana Hub, on the CHEETAH trial results.
Other presentations that took place during the event included a discussion on the cost of SSI’s in Ghana and a talk on Community Engagement and Involvement activities in the Hub and the role it has in the research cycle. The keynote speech delivered by Prof. Debrah focused on the global burden of surgical diseases and the novel ways of addressing such burdens that could help prevent SSI’s from taking place following surgery, a leading cause of hospital re-admission for patients undergoing surgical treatment worldwide.
Further information on the event can be obtained via the official University for Development Studies press release.
For more information on the Ghana Hub, click here.
Benin Hub Holds CEI Event During National Surgical Society Conference
Benin Hub Director joins Benin CEI Lead to discuss patient and community involvement in research during research congress event in Cotonou
The GSU Benin Hub and the Beninese Surgical Society held a joint research congress in Cotonou from the 2nd – 4th August 2023. As part of this, the Benin Hub led by Prof Ismail Lawani and Ms Josette Gnele held a workshop on the basic principles of Community Engagement and Involvement (CEI). The interactive session was attended by surgeons, community health workers and patients from districts where GSU trials are held.
Topics discussed during the workshop touched on the importance of CEI and how it can be integrated into research projects and the practicalities of communicating research findings in lay language to communities. Following the workshop, Prof Lawani outlined the Hub’s plans of establishing a national CEI steering committee composed of patients, community health workers and surgeons.
CEI as defined by the UK’s National Institute for Health and Social Care Research (NIHR) is the collaborative way of working with communities who are most likely to be affected by the research outcomes. CEI activities can range from consulting with patients about the acceptability of a clinical trial to training community members to perform aspects of a project normally delegated to researchers such as data collection.
You can find out more information on the Benin Hub by clicking here.
For more information on CEI activites across the GSU, click here.
India Hub Orchestrate Latest Workshop on Surgical Site Infection (SSI) Wound Care
Nursing and OT trainees take part in dissemination workshop looking into SSI reduction using results from the CHEETAH Trial
The Tata Medical Centre in Kolkata provided the bakdrop for the latest workshop, orchestrated by the India Hub with 48 medical healthcare professionals in attendance, consisting mainly of Nursing and OT Technicians. The meeting provided valuable insight into the concept of SSI for the attendees who were yet to start in their practical training and had little knowledge of the subject. SSI is a leading cause of hospital re-admission for patients post surgery, particularly in low- and middle-income countries and the main focus of the CHEETAH Trial that took place across 7 countries.
A number of the attendees will be working in the community setup such as in community healthcare centres where post-surgical care wound management is often a primary driver for patients seeking medical care in such areas of India. The session enabled attendees to take part in an interactive Q&A session where meeting orchestrators posed various questions to be answered by the attendees. In addition, a visual presntation was also provided to help engage attendees with the topic.
You can find out more on Community Engagement and Involvement activites by clicking here.
Further information on the India Hub can be found by clicking here.
Ghana Hub Meet Stakeholders to Develop National Surgical Site Infection (SSI) Prevention Toolkit
Community Engagement and Involvement (CEI) event enables local community to work with the Ghana Hub to create a plan for the dissemination of SSI prevention
The meeting, orchestrated by the Ghana Hub took place at Holy Family Hospital in Techiman with the participants in attendance consisting of allied healthcare professionals from the Holy Family Hospital, alongside a well represented group of patients and accompanying members of the public – including patients undergoing treatment for a stoma and laparotomy.
The main objectives of the meeting were to:
- Engage patients and community members on what information would be most beneficial to include in the modules being developed
- Discuss the output (presentations, visuals) options that would be appropriate in community education
- Design a strategy to implement the modules
Discussions proved to be highly conducive for meeting the objectives identified, with various ideas and topics discussed in detail and subsequently taken on board by the Hub to help with the design and delivery of the toolkit. Some of the outcomes from the meeting included:
- Participants preference was for education on SSI prevention to start while they are at the admission stage, rather than on the day of discharge
- A phone number of a contactable designated doctor in the surgical team was identified as key for patients being referred from distant communities, to discuss any queries relating to treatment
- Relevant dates should be added to the modules due to sutures often being removed prematurely or later than expected, due to follow-up dressing not being done by the original surgical team
- Information on whether antibiotics and other medications would be given to the patients, in addition to information provided on benefits of the drug given and associated side-effects
- Recommended that facility managers address perceptions of patients regarding the rumoured attitude of staff towards patients that led to some delaying in seeking care
- General information should be included on how to prevent complications, other than SSIs
During the meeting, patients suggested that educational content could be delivered in the form of visual leaflets, handed over to patients at the point of discharge. Other resources that were decided on were educational videos made for the hospitals delivering care and a picture catalogue on SSI prevention that could be used by healthcare workers to educate patients on the subject during their stay in hospital.
You can find out more information on SSIs by visiting the FALCON and CHEETAH trial pages.
Patients and Carers in Benin Discuss Surgical Site Infection Prevention
Benin Hub team meets with various patients and carers to discuss surgical site infection (SSI) during community engagement and involvement (CEI) consultation in Ouidah
The team, led by CEI Lead Josette Bonita had the opportunity to travel to Ouidah where the team were able to speak to a multitude of stakeholders, including allied health workers, patients and nurses. The meeting, held at Ouidah District Hospital, enabled attendees to discuss the French translation of the script of a video designed for the purpose of reducing SSIs in the community, as part of a global toolkit currently being developed as a cross-network collaboration.
Benin Hub Communications Lead Vivien Tenonto reported that the event went well, with a high level of active participation from patients and their carers, who are all looking forward to reviewing the final version of the video once it’s released in the coming weeks.
Surgical site infections are one of the leading causes of mortality and hospital re-admission for patients following surgical procedures globally. The CHEETAH trial, conducted across the GSU network, focused on the use of of separate sterile gloves and instruments for wound closure to help reduce such infections following surgery. Following on from completion of the trial, the dissemination of the trial’s findings have become a key priority for the majority of the GSU’s hubs, Benin inclusive.
You can find out more on the Benin team by clicking here.
Surgical Infection Education Event Held in India Draws Large Audience
Registered Medical Practitioners (RMPs) attended recent meeting that looked at results from the FALCON and CHEETAH trials
The meeting that took place on the 12th April at the Christian Medical College in Ludhiana managed to draw a large audience of RMPs who are usually the first point of contact for the patients in India, especially in rural areas. The main aims of the meeting were:
- To appraise the RMPs about the surgical wound care of the patients post-discharge from the hospital
- To inform the RMPs of the early signs of Surgical Site Infection (SSI) and its management
- To understand the challenges faced by the RMPs in managing surgical wound care and surgical site infection in their practices
Following the presentations that took place, the event team were keen to find out what challenges were faced by RMPs in relation to the provision of surgical wound care, particularly regarding the management of SSIs. Following on from initial discussions that took place in the meeting, the team will be following-up with attendees over the coming weeks to gather further information.
In relation to the CEI programme in India, Atul Suroy (India Hub Manager) was quoted as saying 'With CEI, we aim to empower the existing workforce with evidence-based practices generated through GLOBALSurg collaborative studies to build capacity in the states of India."
You can find out more on the CHEETAH trial by clicking here. Further information on FALCON can be accessed by clicking here.
You can also visit the India national page by clicking here and Community Engagement and Involvement (CEI) in India info slides by clicking here.
Overview of the Rwanda Hub National Steering Committee
Rwanda Spoke groups attend national CEI meeting in Kigali
The aim of the meeting that took place on the 20th April was to involve the community in clinical trial development, in addition to strengthening Community Engagement & Involvement (CEI) structure in Rwanda. The meeting gave members the opportunity to collectively meet face to face for the first time since the inception of the hub. In Rwanda each spoke group consists of roughly 6 - 8 members with 2 co-chairs (inclusive) consisting of a member of the hub team and member of the community.
During the meeting the committee were able to provide valuable input into the SWANN, PROTECTSurg and DRAGON national trials. Members were also given the opportunity to comment on the provision of post-operative care provided by community healthcare workers through the PIGEON project.
The meeting also enabled members to elect the National CEI Group that will form part of an international committee of representatives from each partner country within the GSU unit.
You can view the official CEI brochure for Rwanda (in Kinyarwanda) by clicking here.
You can also visit the Rwanda Hub page by clicking here or CEI page by clicking here.
GSU India Prioritisation Event - an overview of CEI training in Ludhiana
GSU Community Engagement and Involvement (CEI) training and consultation session at CMC Ludhiana, India
The NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Global Surgery (GSU) recently held its first international prioritisation event since the beginning of the pandemic in India, with various meetings taking place in New Delhi, Ludhiana and Kolkata.
Our first overview of the activities that took place focuses on the CEI training session and public consultation at Christian Medical College Ludhiana, India on 29th September 2022.
The training was attended by surgeons, medical students and community health workers with the aim of teaching the fundamentals of CEI and its implementation in research. CEI is a way of collaboratively working with communities who are most likely affected by research outcomes. This includes getting the perspectives of patient, carers and community leaders about the acceptability of a study and strategies to implementing and disseminating findings of completed research.
Following the training, patients and carers joined the group for a consultation on the acceptability of TIGER- a proposed trial that aims to increase access to inguinal hernia surgeries among patients in low and middle-income countries. GSU had done initial work with patients in Ghana but wanted to find out TIGER’s acceptability in the Punjab region.
CEI is an important priority of the Unit and is integrated in all stages of the research it leads. On the 27th of September, leads from GSU Hubs attended a meeting in New Delhi to discuss, among other things, future directions for CEI including a community co-developed patient survey on surgical site infections.