Renewed Partnership Agreement between NHS Borders and St Francis Hospital, Zambia

Back in 1991 Dr Sandy Logie, a retired medical Consultant from the Borders General Hospital went to volunteer at St Francis Hospital (SFH). In the course of his medical duties he contracted HIV and sadly died 9 years later. In 2008, NHS Borders established a formal twinning partnership with SFH. For many years staff from the Scottish Borders have been going there to volunteer their support to a wide variety of projects, both large and small. To support this partnership and to achieve even greater benefits to both Zambia and back in Scotland ‘The Logie Legacy’ charity was established in 2018. We have been involved with projects in Maternity, Paediatrics, Physiotherapy, HIV, Sexual Health, Pharmacy, Public Health, Ophthalmology, Radiology, TB control, and are just completing a large project to improve the water supply. There are also links with the attached Nursing and Midwifery School, and with a ‘Garden Project’ aiming at increasing sustainability.

This is a remarkable hospital in Eastern Zambia similar in size to the Borders General Hospital but serving more than 10 times as many people with a quarter of the staff and a fraction of the resources available to the NHS.

Two staff from SFH, Dr Lalick Banda (Medical Superintendant) & Mr Fred Ntongwe (Senior Hospital Administrator), visited NHS Borders for the first time this month on the invitation of the Scottish Government to speak at a Global Health conference at Murrayfield on 1^st November. They and staff from NHS Borders were specifically asked to share their experiences of how this successful partnership has been sustained for so long.

The visit created the opportunity to renew the valued partnership between our two vital institutions. Karen Hamilton, Chair of NHS Borders, said:

"our partnership agreement supports global citizenship recognising that as individuals and organisations, we are interconnected, and our actions can impact both locally and globally. It upholds the key principles for effective involvement - ownership; alignment; harmonisation; evidence-based; sustainability; and mutual accountability. The Logie Legacy, NHS Borders and St Francis’ Hospital will work together to support the international development commitment to Zambia and in particular St Francis Hospital, working within the Scottish Government International Development Strategy".

Dr Banda said:

"This partnership is so important to us and our patients in Zambia. St Francis wants to tap into skills and knowledge and make things better. The experience has been overwhelming. Together we will be stronger"

Chris Faldon, Consultant Nurse and Logie Legacy Trustee, said:

"Our volunteers invariably find that their efforts overseas, and the learning involved, get re-invested back into their day to day jobs in Scotland and thus improve services closer to home. In addition to improved care in Zambia we think this double impact is worth celebrating!"