A Bolton-based surgical team have travelled 7,000 miles to deliver surgery. The medical team from the Beaumont Hospital, part of the Circle Health Group, journeyed to Tanzania to perform life-changing hernia repair operations. The trip was organised on behalf of Hernia International, a specialist medical foundation that assembles expert surgical teams to perform hernia surgeries in some of the world's most challenging locations.
The foundation currently operates in 23 countries. (Image: AGENCY) The team from Beaumont Hospital included John Hobbiss, a consultant general and colorectal surgeon, Dr Insiya Susnerwala, an anaesthetist, and Jaime Owen, a lead theatre practitioner. Once in Muheza, a district within the Tanga region of Tanzania, they worked with local colleagues to operate on a population of 180,000 people at St Augustine’s district hospital.
Ms Owen said: "St Augustine Hospital has eight wards in total covering surgical, paediatrics and maternity care. "Despite covering a large area, the hospital only had 270 beds available. "We were all volunteers and were able to heavily subsidise the cost of the surgery to the patients under our care.
"It is estimated that nearly a million hernias are requiring treatment in Tanzania alone. "The cost of surgery and the lack of expertise is a big contributing factor to this number rising substantially each year." The cost of such surgery mostly ranges from 160k TZS (£50) in smaller centres to 600k TZS (£185) in larger hospitals.
