George Eliot hospital hosts visit from health service in Nicaragua
NSCAG News |
on: Thursday, 9 March 2017
Nick Rowley, UNISON and Anna Reynolds, Endoscopy Lead Clinical Nurse with Dr Camila Mejia, FETSALUD and Louise Richards, NSCAG
On 20 February, George Eliot Hospital welcomed a visitor from Nicaragua as part of an ongoing twinning partnership with the Central; American country. Dr Camila Mejia was one of the first people to visit the exciting new £4.1 m endoscopy unit due to open this spring. Dr Mejia visited the George Eliot as part of a visit to the UK which included delivering a speech at Unison's National Women's Conference. Her visit at the George Eliot included a complete tour of the hospital to see some of the recent investment in services at the hospital and a visit to the state of the art MRI scanner suite, recently refurbished theatre suite facilities and the fantastic new endoscopy unit, which will open to patients in March.
The visit was organised by UNISON trade union representatives from the George Eliot Hospital and the health union FETSALUD in Nicaragua, where Dr Mejia is currently Branch Secretary. Dr Mejia said: "The workers of the Nilda Patricia Hospital in Ciudad Sandino, and members of FETSALUD would like to thank the staff at George Eliot Hospital and their Union Conveners for the support given to their hospital, which has enabled them to improve patient care. We are sure that the friendship between our two hospitals will be very important in terms of strengthening the relationship between our organisations. Thanks again for the kindness you have shown us."
The twinning agreement was originally signed in 2015 between the George Eliot Hospital and Nilda Patricia Hospital in Cuidad-Sandino, Managua. This agreement was organised by Unison trade union representatives from the George Eliot Hospital and FETSALUD Union in Nicaragua. The relationship aims to learn together, share expertise and improve the quality of health services for patients and staff through sharing knowledge. Recently, UNISON provided the Nilda Patricia Hospital with £500 to buy a computer for the hospital and have donated other valuable equipment. This is the third visit from representatives from Managua and representatives from the George Eliot Hospital who visited Nicaragua in 2015 with funding from UNISON. UNISON representative Dawn Downes said: "During this visit we had an opportunity to discuss commonalities between our two countries and the cultural differences." The George Eliot Hospital is currently planning other ways that they can swap ideas between the two countries to improve health services.
