Global Haematology SIG

Applications are open for societies to request a BSH-sponsored global speaker.

The BSH Global Speakers scheme aims to form international partnerships with haematology societies in LMICs to share knowledge and expertise.

We have previously funded UK-based speakers selected by BSH to travel to face-to-face meetings, financially supporting economy return international flights, accommodation, visas and subsistence for speakers. We have also provided speakers for virtual meetings.

Several long-term collaborations have resulted from previous speakers’ visits. Society applicants are encouraged to use this initiative to collaborate on eg. co-authored evidence-based guidelines or research to improve evidence and treatment in your setting.

If your society is planning a conference or meeting from August 2025 onwards, we welcome applications for a speaker. Please visit the BSH Global Speakers page for more details.

Deadline: Friday 10 January 2025.

The BSH Global Speakers task force is accepting applications for the BSH Global Speakers scheme. This scheme aims to form collaborative partnerships between the BSH and haematology societies in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), for sharing knowledge and expertise.

Find out more.

Benefits of global health work for NHS health workers

Global health experience in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) can provide huge benefits for NHS health workers as well as to NHS trusts. The aims of overseas work should include increasing global solidarity, improving health outcomes and building equitable partnerships.

There is sometimes a reticence to allow NHS staff to take time out to work, volunteer or develop health partnerships overseas. However, these experiences not only enhance the professional development of NHS personnel but also foster a sense of global solidarity and shared experience. There is increasing evidence that working in complex and challenging environments provides invaluable experience to individuals, which can also provide positive impacts for NHS trusts. Some of these benefits are highlighted below:

1. Increased cultural competence – through working in different environments and cultures, and different socio-economic contexts.
2. Gain of clinical skills and experience – through increased exposure to different pathologies and management strategies.
3. Enhanced problem-solving skills – through working in settings with limited resources, innovative and creative problem-solving skills are developed.
4. Leadership experience – compared to the NHS, working in resource-limited settings accelerates opportunities to develop professional and management skills, including service development, enactment of change, communication, and team-working skills, as well as flexibility and the ability to adapt to change.
5. Resilience – taking time away from the NHS as well as working in challenging environments can enable health workers to return to the NHS with increased energy and motivation for their roles.
6. Ability to work with limited resources – the NHS has a finite budget, and the ability to optimise resource allocation and work in a cost-effective manner is hugely valuable.
7. Research and audit – there are multiple exciting opportunities for research partnerships and for initiating and collaborating on clinical audits in LMIC, and for facilitating their positive impacts on patients and health services. 
8. Humanitarian impact and fulfilment – contributing to healthcare initiatives in lower-resourced regions allows NHS health workers to make a meaningful impact, and experiencing positive outcomes of their efforts can enhance job satisfaction.
9. Public health advocacy and education – global health opportunities allow NHS workers to advocate for wider public health issues, and insights can be brought back to the NHS about global health disparities and the importance of international collaboration.

For haematology trainees, there can be really tangible benefits in terms of fulfilling the Joint Royal Colleges of Physicians’ Training Board curriculum objectives, for example:

1. Dealing with complexity and uncertainty is a constant when resources are extremely limited
2. The awareness of needing to use resources wisely as well as avoiding unnecessary investigations or prescribing poorly-evidence treatment when tests and medications are unaffordable or unavailable.
3. Working within a different culture provides the opportunity for communicating with patients and carers in a variety of settings.
4. Developing effective consultation skills including in challenging circumstances when discussing best options with very limited resources, including situations where patients must pay for their own treatments.

In summary, global health volunteering and partnerships help to build a more globally minded and resilient healthcare workforce, benefitting the communities serviced as well as the professional development of NHS health workers. “It can revitalise people and helps them realise just how fortunate we are to have the NHS” (Professor Ian Cumming, former Chief Executive, Health Education England). These experiences ultimately improve healthcare outcomes both locally and internationally.

References

Cochrane, M., Chisholm, G. and Tomlinson, N., 2014. Engaging in Global Health-the framework for voluntary engagement in Global Health by the UK health sector. London: Department of Health.

Reardon, C., George, G. and Enigbokan, O., 2015. The benefits of working abroad for British General Practice trainee doctors: the London deanery out of programme experience in South Africa. BMC Medical Education, 15, pp.1-8.

Joint Royal College of Physician’s Training Board, Haematology Training Curriculum, Implementation August 2021.

Megan Kell 29 February 2024

The Global Haematology Special Interest Group held a one-day workshop in London on 20 June 2023 with the theme of ‘equitable partnerships’. The workshop aimed to discuss and promote mutual learning and collaborative partnerships between haematology professionals in the UK and the Global South.

The workshop was attended by 25 participants, including nursing, science, pharmacy and medical professionals from the UK, Nigeria and Kenya, with virtual participation from colleagues in Malawi, Ghana and Iraq.

It started by highlighting the work of some of the SIG’s taskforces - the Health Volunteers Overseas scheme, the two-monthly webinar CPD programme and the Global Speakers scheme - and also solicited inputs to global haematology aspects of the new BSH three-year strategy.

The main session consisted of joint presentations by colleagues from the Global South and the UK. It covered inspiring examples of a range of partnerships, from high-level organisational and institutional collaborations to one-to-one relationships.

Dr Ahmed Yassin and Dr Maadh Aldouri described their partnership among several UK-based Iraqi colleagues working through the RCPath to build haematology training and pathology capacity alongside establishing examination centres in Kurdistan. This partnership highlighted how gaining the support of national policymakers through advocacy and data is crucial and is an excellent example of the important role the UK diaspora can play in global health.

Maggie Mphande, Netsayi Gowero and Diana De discussed a partnership between universities in Malawi and Cardiff focused on haemoglobinopathy education using novel pedagogical tools. Embedding these into training curricula for health professionals in Malawi resulted in improved clinical care and health worker knowledge, as well as demonstrating the benefits of cross-cultural collaborative learning.

Dr Lucy Asamoah-Akuoko and Professor Imelda Bates described how they had built a strong relationship over many years, developing from supervising and mentoring into an equitable partnership. It has resulted in the consolidation of research and expertise within the transfusion services in Ghana and changes to approaches for recruiting and retaining blood donors. Lucy has developed into a national leader and influencer for blood services policy and practice.

Finally, Dr Livingstone Dogara and Professor Baba Inusa discussed the development of a newborn screening programme for sickle cell disease in Kaduna state, Nigeria, to improve awareness and education, strengthen laboratory services and enhance patient care. Their ongoing multi-country African Research and Innovative Initiative for sickle cell education supports mentoring and training alongside direct laboratory input.

Key learning points around the development of equitable, durable partnerships included the need for a shared vision, maintaining integrity and mutual respect, effective and open communication, fostering two-way learning, and ensuring efforts align with national priorities.

We would like to thank the BSH staff for their support in organising this event.

It is widely recognised that developing countries reap significant benefits from the volunteering efforts of NHS staff. Often overlooked are the new skills which volunteers gain through their experiences and which could be utilised within the NHS.  These include: improving staff morale, enhancing staff leadership skills and learning how to work with limited equipment, weak management systems and insufficient money.  Ultimately, if properly utilised, these skills and experiences could significantly impact on UK health systems and the care that NHS staff provide.

Over the last few years there has been a large increase in NHS staff undertaking volunteering activities. This is strongly endorsed by UK government policies and budgets - the Department for International Development have committed £14 million for 200 health international volunteering partnerships. “The skills developed through volunteering in a link are considered valuable skills for NHS employees according to numerous professional development frameworks”³.

Independent volunteering and volunteer programmes enable NHS employees to experience LMIC cultures and health systems which are very different from those in the UK. The resulting enhanced cultural awareness and sensitivity, better appreciation of the cost of resources and creative ways of optimising their use, and the ability to strategize and take decisions with minimal infrastructural and system support means that volunteers bring back skills which are critically important for the NHS and which will ultimately lead to better patient care. At organisational and national levels, volunteer programmes can benefit the NHS through a more motivated workforce, a better understanding of patient and staff needs, improved strategy development, increased knowledge about pathologies uncommon in the UK and better management and policy-making skills^{3 8}.

Benefits can be considered at individual, institutional and national level and have been assigned to seven categories; clinical skills, management skills, communication and teamwork, patient experience and dignity, policy and academic skills³. In addition to improving health in poorer countries, the APPG review⁴ themed the benefits of volunteering for the UK into three domains – leadership development, sharing innovation and international recognition of NHS – all of which contribute to improved services and patient care:

Leadership development

Leadership development, particularly communication, self-knowledge, ingenuity and adaptability, is one of the most important gains of volunteering. Encouraging and equipping NHS staff to take on more leadership and management responsibility is also a central tenet of the Health and Social Care Act 2012. Returning volunteers are highly motivated with a rejuvenated work ethic and renewed vocation for the NHS⁴.

Sharing innovation

Several NHS trusts have reported gaining new knowledge and ideas through volunteering schemes including new tools for patient treatment and better integrated working. Other benefits have been described in the areas of workforce development, technology, financing and governance¹.

International recognition of NHS institutions

Promoting the profile of UK health facilities overseas gives them a competitive advantage by making them appear innovative and outward looking and helping them to improve recruitment and retention of the highest calibre staff⁹. The downside is that poorly executed overseas activities risk reputational damage which will extend beyond those immediately responsible.

1. Syed S, Dadwal V, Rutter P, Storr J, Hightower J, Gooden R, et al. Developed-developing country partnerships: Benefits to developed countries? Globalization and Health 2012;8(17).
2. Jones FAE, Knights DPH, Sinclair VFE, Baraitser P. Do health partnerships with organisations in lower income countries benefit the UK partner? A review of the literature. Globalization and Health 2013;9:38.
3. All-Party Parliamentary Group on Global Health. Improving Health at Home and Abroad: How overseas volunteering from the NHS benefits the UK and the world; 2013.
4. Welsh Assembly Government. Volunteering for Health: Report on the findings of research into the impact of volunteers working in health care settings; 2004.
5. McBain C, Jones A. Employer supported volunteering - the guide: Volunteering England; 2005.