Dr Judy Ormrod, Lecturer in the Division of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work at the University spent three weeks in August this year volunteering in a hospital in Gulu, Uganda. The visit was established through the University of Manchester NHS Foundation Trust’s link with Gulu Regional Referral Hospital: the Gulu-Man link. While Judy has previously worked and volunteered internationally, this was her first visit to Uganda.

During her time in Gulu, Judy worked with trainee clinical officers and student nurses, primarily in the paediatric and mental health units. Having previously worked in a number of resource-limited countries Judy had some experience of the challenges the local doctors and nurses faced. Many resources and treatments that are widely available in the UK are not an option in Gulu; and consequently the challenges faced by Ugandan doctors and nurses are very different to those faced by healthcare professionals in the UK. Despite these difficulties the sense of community is incredibly strong. Judy was particularly impressed by the relationships between patients and healthcare professionals – the nurses know individual patients well, and can instantly recall their histories and social situations from memory.

As a result of this trip Judy is looking to create some resources to better prepare student nurses visiting low resource settings and ensuring they have an accurate cultural awareness, so they can best assist their international colleagues.

Judy said of her trip to Gulu: “I really admire the optimism, resilience and strong sense of community shown by the people of Gulu”.