I won't be visiting the hospital again so I thought i'd blog about some of the units all in one place.

Psychiatry - Psychiatry was interesting. The nurses showed us the unit which is very small. They have a treatment room, place for folders and consultations which are outside. It all seems pretty organised. We got to look at the documents they also use. I was pretty shocked to see the first option for thoughts of disease causation is curse. It really highlights the culture differences. I was sad to find out that here epilepsy is a mental disorder. They have no concept of neurological problems which is sad as i suspect alot of peoples conditions are unheard and untreated. The cuboard labelling peoples conditions is quite shocking as well. Sticky labels note the word schizo men and schizo women and epileptics. It's an abbreviation of the condition but such a bad way to use language. Depression here is uncommon. In the UK 1 in 4 people will have depression at some point.

Diabetes - Arriving at 7 is still too late for diabetes! People are already there waiting for there blood sugars. To test the blood levels we use automatic lancet needles without the lancet.. The lack of resources really makes you think. They also think an automatic lancet takes too long to prepare so it's a manual p**** It's fine but you really have to concentrate and judge how far to p**** You don't want to hurt them but you don't want to not p****them enough so you have to do it again.

A nurse there called Gifty told us a little about diabetes and the unit. I didn't realise a common myth about diabetes. She told us that growing up she thought people with diabetes had to eat out of different pans and do everything pretty much seperately as it was contagious and caused by a curse. The aim of the unit is to dispel that and other myths. They do this through education, exercise and medication. It is a very busy unit but a place I feel useful.

Maternity - If only I could burn this place down. We turned up and began helping the midwives clean. It was disgustingly dirty and we used the same clothes for the entire ward. The water was changed only twice. The amount of chlorine wasn't measured and it was just terrible. I also found the midwives incredibly hostile and a place i left pretty swiftly.

My favourite clinic photo so far..

https://photos-6.dropbox.com/si/tbd/HKNCA8s1JqUwL0O0AkPp1VX7P7hDuRSJrKjuA3fadfE/33522342/1342638000/30e865b/DSCF2043.JPG?size=1024x768