By Foday Moriba Conteh
During a well-attended ceremony held on Friday 22nd October, 2021 at the Connaught Hospital in Freetown, the Deputy Minister of Health and Sanitation 2, Dr. Amara Jambai, officially commissioned the newly refurbished Ward 2 at the Connaught hospital meant for cancer and cancer related patients.
The refurbishment which cost a hundred thousand pounds sterling including the procurement of medical equipment, such as electronic beds and pressure relief mattresses, were put together and facilitated by the CEO and Founder of The Health Show, Isata Sisay-Jalloh and her husband Sheku Ajuma Jalloh in partnership with the University of Sierra Leone Teaching Hospital Complex.
Chairing the event, the Hospital Care Manager at the Connaught hospital, Dr. Mustapha Kabba, said since the inception of their administration, their main goal is to rebrand Connaught hospital, starting with the basic medical services on a 24 hour basis.
He said since that time they have achieved 90% of their goals, noting that wherever one goes in the hospital something is happening. He added that prior to now, nobody wants to associate him or herself with the Connaught hospital but the narrative has changed completely with the rapid transformation.
Dr. Kabba said Madam Sisay-Jalloh had the idea to refurbish the Ward 2, and came up with a plan and design to fix the ward. He ended up thanking Madam Sisay Jalloh and her husband for such a marvelous work.
According to the Board Chairperson of Administration, Madam Dr. Sonia Spencer, Ward 2 of the Connaught Hospital is the unofficial Cancer Ward, and in 2019 when Mrs. Sisay Jalloh noticed the condition in the Ward during a visit, an idea was borne in her mind.
She maintained that, “Being a seasoned Palliative Care Specialist and Trainer, she understands better than most, the gravity of the disease, the need for patient comfort in palliative care and specifically the tenuous link between one’s psychological state and physiological wellbeing. Indeed research has shown that a depressing environment can adversely impact the patient’s journey to recovery.”
In her statement, the Founder and CEO of the Health Show, Madam Isata Sisay-Jalloh said it was the connection with Dr. Smalle back then in the United Kingdom in 2019 that led to the implementation of such a project at the Connaught Hospital, and thanked Dr.Smalle and the other stakeholders for making it possible.
She noted that as a cancer nurse, the condition of Ward 2 was unacceptable “There was no dignity and privacy for patients that were then at the ward.”
Madam Sisay-Jalloh said the project should have been completed in October 2020 but was halted as a result of the outbreak of COVID-19, since they had to intensify their fundraising through the Health Show. She said the entire renovation cost One Hundred Thousand Pounds Sterling including the purchasing of equipment with herself and her husband responsible for 50% of the funding.
“Let us make Connaught Hospital a better place wherein foreigners will come for treatment instead of us going to them. We are going to change the narrative and work with every Government.”
Giving the keynote address, the Deputy Minister of Health 2, Dr Amara Jambai, said Connaught is the epi-centre for care giving, noting that if they get Connaught right, all other places in the districts will be up to standard.
He said their partners have been helping out with giving the hospital a facelift, now he said the fate of the hospital is in the hands of the nurses, pointing out that the hospital has a committed leadership to drive such a transformation.
He thanked Madam Sisay-Jalloh and her husband for such a move, while he appealed to other Sierra Leoneans to follow suit by supporting the health sector in the country.
