30 October 2025
August was a time of change for the BSSH LION project. We bid farewell to Sean Walsh, a surgeon who has put six months of his valuable time into upskilling Malawian surgeons, and the LION hand service, over the last two and a half years. He received a fitting send off from the local team, with samosas, cake and coca cola served at the morning trauma meeting on his last day.
With a change of consultant, came a change in sub-specialty, and we have welcomed Dr. Rahel Casa Bayu, plastic surgeon from Ethiopia, who will be spending 5 weeks with the team.
Whilst we were sad to lose Sylvester (our local orthopaedic consultant) as part of the hand team, it continues to be a pleasure training Mzati, our visiting plastics fellow from Blantyre. He continues to gain knowledge and skills which will serve him well in his future career.
The minor operating suite has benefited from the delivery of a hand table, arranged by Jonathan Jones and transported by Amjad Burgan, the current visiting UK registrar.
We continue to see and treat complex hand trauma, but also utilise the global resources of the project, running complex cases though our sub-specialist MDT. This allows tertiary level expertise to be instantly delivered to Malawian patients.
Clinical Figures ( August) :
Surgical procedures: 46
Hand Clinic Outpatients: 166
Hand Therapy Appointments: 160
The weekly Tuesday teaching continues to be well attended, and we are grateful for the ongoing support from Kate Owers.
Outside of the hospital, Amjad undertook a 3-day hike to the top of Sapitwa mountain, the highest peak in south and central Africa, and in early September the team will be visiting Lake Malawi for some well-earned R&R.
A special mention to Ramy, visiting medical student from Yale, who ran the Lilongwe half marathon to raise money for the BSSH project.
Focus on Hand Therapy
August has been an exciting and lively month in the hand therapy department. Since February Pricilla has been managing the hand therapy unit, whilst Lucius attended a 6 months hand therapy exchange programme in Bergen Hospital, Norway. She has excelled in her role and we are pleased that she will also have the opportunity to visit Norway in 2026.
Lucius returned to LION hospital in August, and for the first time the hand therapy team has two full time hand therapists. The UK visiting therapist in August is Meryl Glover who returned for her 4th visit to LION. Her first visit was in February 2022, and she is delighted to see the department running well.
The department was presented with a Jmar dynamometer from the International Federation Society of Hand Therapists. Allard UK donated Velcro strapping for splinting, and a UK therapist donated a new splint pan for clinic.
Pricilla and Meryl worked with Mohammed Ahmed Ramy, a Yale medical student, to develop a research project to characterise the language of sensation in Chichewa. Watch this space for the publication, which will be a first for the LION hand department.
The hand therapists have received students from Utah Rocky Mountain University, and a local physiotherapy intern.
As well as the above, the department have treated X patients, and fabricated numerous splints.
BSSH LION Hand Unit Project Team
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