Xytal are proud supporters of the Akamba Aid Fund, a UK-based charity that aims to provide clean water, improved health services, and the advancement of education in some of the poorest communities in Eastern Kenya.
Richard’s 2023 trip to the mission hospital
In 2023, our CEO, Richard More, was invited to visit the Te Wa Yesu Mission Hospital. This small hospital in the Gaia village provides urgent care, maternity care, and child health services in rural Kenya. Richard was asked to support clinical leaders to help renovate the operating theatre for Te Wa Yesu. At the time, the hospital had a dilapidated, non-functioning operating theatre. The challenge posed to Richard was:
What quality improvement skills or techniques can deliver what the local team wish to achieve, in such a resource poor environment?
Key clinicians got together to create a long list of challenges and how the team could address them. These were categorised under different headings: Methods, Machinery, Manpower, Money, and Materials – in a classic fishbone diagram.
The issues were all interrelated – there was no money, so there was potential to repair machinery. Without machinery, no operations could be offered, therefore, there was no money – and so on.
Richard created a Gantt chart for Te Wa Yesu’s clinical leaders, clarifying which responsibilities and dependencies would deliver a comprehensive team response to the challenge facing them.
This actionable plan motivated everyone involved to see a way through what had appeared to be an unsolvable problem. Seeing the opportunity to enhance the services they could offer to their community, the local team worked together to bring about the changes needed to restore the operating theatre to use. With a plan in place, the whole team were able to move forward efficiently and effectively.
Just a few weeks later, the first baby was delivered by emergency caesarean section in a functioning surgical facility. Mother and child were both healthy, and the entire team were delighted.
What came next for Te Wa Yesu Mission Hospital
“The improvement of the operating theatre after the catastrophe that was Covid had generated a ‘What’s next?’ attitude among the staff,” said Richard. “The agreed answer was maternity.”
With this in mind, Richard recently returned to Kenya to help put things in action, alongside Xytal colleague and experienced midwife, Heather Allmond.
“As a midwife, I feel a keen awareness of how lucky we are in the UK to have a well-developed (if somewhat underfunded) health service,” said Heather, ahead of her trip. “Maternal health is such a key area for improving health across communities. I’m involved with regional and national level work focusing on improvements around PPH (Post Partum Haemorrhage), the leading cause of maternal death internationally.
“Thankfully, the maternal death rate is very low in the UK. I’m very eager to explore simple, effective, inexpensive strategies that could potentially be replicated in low-resource areas. This could help improve management and long term outcomes for women experiencing PPH.”
Richard and Heather’s 2024 trip to Kenya
Richard and Heather were welcomed warmly to the mission hospital, along with James, a GP Clinic Medical Director, and trustee of the Akamba Aid Fund. The mission hospital were delighted with the improvement of their operating theatre in 2023, and keen to carry this success through to their maternity clinic. Heather’s obvious expertise as a midwife and Richard’s help the year before gave the team confidence that this was possible.
Following an idea generation session, the team did some outline project planning. Cost estimates were needed to understand what was likely to be feasible.
One of the biggest differences for Richard and Heather was working in a system that is very much not free at the point of delivery. Though Richard had known this from being at the mission hospital before, on this trip he felt far less overwhelmed by the environment, and far more aware of this difficult fact.
“This time around, I was more involved in the care of some patients that had to make ‘pay or die’ decisions,” said Richard. “And, of course, seeing maternity care from Heather’s perspective was very eye-opening.”
After his previous trip to Te Wa Yesu, Richard felt slightly overwhelmed by the experience. This time, he came back feeling much more positive, with thoughts geared towards how and when to go back to the mission hospital next.
Though the heat was intense, and the difficult problems of wrestling with limited resources even more so, Richard and Heather could see the fruits of their labour.
“I did not go this time to be a spectator, but to work – to facilitate the development of the clinic,” said Richard.
“There is a joy in being part of a high performing team. It brings out the best in everyone. And it is a good feeling, being the best you can be.”
