Chairperson of the University of Sierra Leone Hospital Teaching Complex, Dr. Sonia Spencer has revealed that every year, about Five Hundred people suffer from Head and Spinal Injury from road transport accidents.
She said sadly enough, between January and May this year, Five Hundred people all died from their injuries because Sierra Leone has no Neurosurgeon and equipment to look after them. According to Dr. Spencer, each year, about 75 of each 100 children die because there is no Neurosurgeon and no appropriate equipment to provide the service and care they need, She said in the past few months, the Teaching Hospital together with the Ministry of Health and Sanitation and Connaught Hospital management are in consultations with the World Federation of Neurosurgical for the establishment of such specialty at Connaught Hospital. This she said is a much needed service
to reduce the deaths of the one hundred children born with Hydrocephalus, Spinal Defender and other Neurosurgical problems coming through the Outpatients’ Clinic at Connaught every year till 2016. She went on that the Department of Anesthesia has received accreditation to train residents for both membership and fellowship programmes in the West African College of Surgeons.
She added that arrangements are ongoing for the accreditation of the Department of Family Medicines and preparations are underway for the accreditation of Surgery and Internal Medicine Department. The doctor went on that between October 2021 and April this year, a number of young doctors in Family Medicine, Internal Medicine
and Anesthesia past their primaries and started residency training. She used the opportunity to appeal to government and other business houses to come to their aid and contribute to the procurement of portable Computed Tomography (CT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Scanners.