Andrea Woolley is a volunteer laboratory analyst at Waikabubak Public Hospital in Waikabubak, Sumba Barat. The purpose of her placement is to improve the quality of the hospital’s laboratory practices and management. Here she tells us about her experience and what skills she will be bringing back to the UK.
I’m a Biomedical Scientist which means that I look at bacterial infections, and diagnose what the bacteria actually is. Immediately prior to joining VSO, I worked as a locum in London for 18 months. I applied to VSO because I wanted to live in another culture and do something with a purpose.
My role here is to improve the overall services of the hospital’s laboratory. On quiet days we see as few as 12 patients, but on other days we’ll have more than 40. They are mostly malaria tests, but we also do blood screenings, pregnancy tests, HIV tests, urine tests and TB tests.
The first change I made was addressing health and safety procedures. For example, when I arrived no one wore laboratory coats, there were children playing in the laboratory, and there were people eating and drinking in there. Bleach was never used to clean needles, and there were no proper bins for the used needles – they were poking out of ordinary bins.
I was so shocked that I started to encourage and implement change within the first two weeks. I did this step by step. I always wore gloves, and encouraged them to do the same. I created a checklist, and every time someone wasn’t wearing gloves or a coat, we’d put a little black mark against their name. I even got a black mark against my name once because I forgot to wear something, and everyone loved that!
They also never used to label samples in the laboratory, which I found amazing! Without labels, samples can get mixed up. I gradually introduced them to labelling, and helped them understand the importance of this procedure.
It was clear right from the start that a TB laboratory was needed. The head of the hospital wanted me to set it up straight away but initially I held off because there was no proper treatment process in place for when we did have TB cases. I explained that I would only start the lab and the screening if we could actually treat the patients who have TB.
Once treatment processes were in place we identified a room that became the TB laboratory, and we obtained the necessary equipment from the government. I then started to train staff by explaining what TB actually was and how we were going to make the lab work. At the moment I’ve just trained one colleague, but before I leave I will have trained five others and will have run two refresher courses.
I’ve developed an awful lot of patience and tolerance. Normally I’m the most impatient person in the world! My parents think it’s hilarious that I’ve become so patient. But I’ve had to be. I don’t want to discourage my colleagues, so I have to go slowly and not lose my patience with them.
I’ve also developed a much better overview of pathology, and how haematology and microbiology fit into my overall job. I can see more clearly now how the results from a chemistry test can work in synergy. For example, in the UK I only looked at the bacteria side of things. But I now see that a chemistry test can have a knock-on effect on the bacteria results. It’s nice to have that broader perspective.
