Improving Emergency Care in the Democratic Republic of Congo

We have been supporting the provincial ministry of health in emergency care since 2016, initially through the Primary Trauma Care course. We are now working directly with the Programme National des Urgences et Action Humanitaire (PNUAH) to support the implementation of their emergency care road map. This will involve studying emergency care data in the province and implementing the WHO Clinical Registry at Kinkanda Hospital in Matadi. 

What is a trauma registry?

A trauma registry is a system that enables the collection of data on injured patients to help develop treatment and prevention interventions, and to support the monitoring and evaluation of the quality of care provided.

In high-income countries, trauma registries have significantly contributed to the reduction of injury morbidity and mortality. The funding from Sir Halley Stewart Trust will allow the King's Kongo Central Partnership to develop a low-cost and sustainable model for implementing a trauma registry in the DRC, as well as to generate knowledge and learning on the implementation of a trauma registry to share with health practitioners more broadly.

The first phase of this two-year project is to understand the current context, both in the DRC and in lower and middle-income countries (LMICs) more widely. A team of experts from the UK's National Health Service (NHS) and King's Global Health Masters students are developing:

• A feasibility assessment of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Clinical Registry in LMICs, and
• A situational analysis of trauma care data in the Kongo Central Province. 

At KGHP, our expert volunteers of educators, researchers, health professionals, managers and health sector leaders are central to our health partnership work, delivering technical advice, teaching, training and distance mentoring to their counterparts in the global south. Meet the dedicated team working on this vital, first phase of the project.

Anna Marie Brown. Anna is an intercalating medical student doing a Global Health masters between her fourth and fifth year. She is hoping to go into trauma and orthopaedic surgery in global health later down the line. Anna is working on the situational analysis.

Bethany Sampson. Bethany is an emergency care registrar working in Sheffield with experience in clinical, education and systems improvement work with refugees, and in South Sudan, Somaliland, Bangladesh, Uganda and Rwanda. Bethany is working on the situational analysis.

Cristina Carlos. Cristina was born in Angola and raised in Portugal, where she trained as a nurse. She has over 20 years of experience in International Health Care working in Corporate, International Development, and the National Health System in Portugal and London. Her experience ranges from emergency care, service management, quality improvement and staff development. She currently works as a Clinical Governance and Quality Improvement Manager at King's College London. Cristina is working on the feasibility assessment.

Ellen McCourt. Ellen is a Consultant in Adult and Paediatric Emergency Medicine in Hull. She previously volunteered with KGHP in the DRC and Somaliland. She has an MSc in Global Health (Global Surgery) and has just finished four years on the Executive of the European Junior Doctors Association, with a particular focus on medical workforce planning, junior doctor well-being, violence against health care workers and clinician mental health. Ellen is working on the situational analysis.

Nicolas Robert Guez. Nicolas is a French student who completed his undergraduate studies in Bioscience and has now embarked on an exciting journey at King's College, pursuing a Master's degree in Global Health. Nicolas is working on the feasibility assessment.

Onayomi Rosenior-Patten. Onayomi is a medical professional with a strong desire to make a difference globally. Her background is in emergency clinical response, health research, and international collaboration. She consistently aims to harness innovation for health betterment. Onayomi is working on the situational analysis. 

Rebecca Parry. Rebecca is currently training to be an emergency medicine doctor in Liverpool, and has an interest in Global Health especially in health systems and policy. She was previously a student at King's College studying the intercalated degree in Global Health and then went to The Netherlands for her MSc. She has worked as part of another health partnership in a small district hospital in Kenya. Rebecca is working on the feasibility assessment.

Rosanne Verow. Rosanne is a paediatric registrar working in London. Her speciality is paediatric emergency medicine and she has worked in numerous major trauma centres. She has a Masters in public health and a Diploma in conflict and catastrophe medicine. She spent six months helping support hospitals in Sierra Leone to roll out ETAT training courses for paediatric staff. Rosanne is working on the feasibility assessment.

In the DRC, the multidisciplinary project implementation team will be carrying out a feasibility assessment and adapting the WHO clinical registry for use at the Hopital Provincial de Reference Kinkanda in Matadi. We will meet the DRC team in an upcoming feature article.