Medical treatment

Primary Health care represents the local tier of health provision, dealing with minor illness,

injuries, triage, and stabilising patients before referral to secondary care facilities.

New Foundations Clinic is reachable only by boat, is remote and often the only accessible facility for patients because of cost and travel logistics.

Many patients arrive in extremis, requiring urgent medical help

Infected burns

End stage Tetanus

Guidelines and algorithms have been established from WHO(World Health Organisation) and IRC (International Red Cross) to stabilse where possible these serious patients and transfer to hospital. As a Primary Health Centre what we can do is limited and must not delay the patient in getting hospital where possible. The thornier problem occurs where the patient is terminal and will die enroute. In this case communication skills are crucial so that the family understand the situation and prognosis. Many arrive believing a Medical facility is capable of all things....

What we do:

• Treatment of skin / respiratory / urine infections
• Prompt treatment following injury eg. machete
• Immediate help for septic abortions / post-partum infections
• Prompt malaria treatment
• Diarrhoea treatment for the dehydrated child
• Triage for possible cataract and non-acute surgical problems
• TB surveillance
• HIV education and surveillance plus testing, referral for treatment
• Treatment for arthritic conditions in the middle aged given preponderance of physically demanding jobs
• Home visitation for the infirm and immobile
• Chronic disease monitoring, Hypertension, Diabetes, Asthma
• Laboratory testing for HIV, anaemia, malaria and urineanalysis

Anaemia with malaria

Diarrhoea and dyhydration

Type 2 Diabetic

There is a Doctor led daily clinic every alternate week and between the service is Health Care Worker led. Protocols have been established to ensure clear treatment pathways are followed, and indicate when patients should be advised to travel to secondary centres.

Primary Care must be simple and we try to do simple things well. 

We use the Clinic as a base to run boat clinics to satellite communities in neighbouring creeks every alternate week when the Doctor is resident at Enekorogha.

Unloading for camp at Odogbene community

The WHO list of Essential Medicines provides the core for the range of drugs stored, and used at the Clinic