We are delighted to announce that we are getting married on the 30th of October. We feel extremely fortunate to be able to celebrate the occasion with some of our friends and family in beautiful Edinburgh, our home.

As you know, we have been supporting the Global Anaesthesia Development Partnerships (GADP) and particularly their work in Zambia. Hannah spent 6 months at the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka, back in 2017, and is currently working on a fellowship providing remote teaching and mentorship during the pandemic. We have both witnessed the impact that this partnership has on increasing access to safe surgery and anaesthesia in Zambia.

Training to become an anaesthetist is arduous in countries like the UK, with at least 7 years of training while working under the supervision of senior colleagues or consultants. However, where Hannah trains, one teaching hospital may have around 70+ consultant anaesthetists. In the UK there are 20.7 anaesthesia providers per 100,000 of the population. 

In Zambia, the total number of consultant anaesthetists in the whole country is less than in one teaching hospital in Edinburgh, and before the creation of this partnership none had been trained within Zambia. In Zambia there are 0.93 anaesthesia providers per 100,000 of the population. With so few physician-anaesthetists there is very little capacity to train more doctors as anaesthetists. 

Anaesthetists are at the heart of hospitals, supporting surgery with anaesthesia and providing pain relief and life saving care to patients. Without anaesthetists it is very difficult to provide safe surgery or intensive care. They also provide essential training to other allied health care professionals, such as nurses and midwives. Anaesthetists enable hospitals and health-care facilities to provide better care and better outcomes for their patients.

We live very fortunate lives and are ever so grateful for your presence at our wedding, whether in person or online, and in our lives and our marriage. We ask that instead of buying us a present, you would instead help us to raise funds to support GADP in their partnership with the anaesthetists of Zambia.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.