AFTER ten years of treating local youngsters, Dr Pat Walker swapped the corridors of the Royal Bolton Hospital for a poverty stricken facility in Malawi.
The consultant paediatrician is now back at work in Bolton, but has been deeply touched by her experiences at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Blantyre.
A lack of space in the hospital forced Dr Walker, at times, to treat 360 children in just 180 beds, with youngsters having to share bunks if they were to access treatment.
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As well as general illness, doctors were constantly battling against malnutrition, malaria and HIV.
Dr Walker, aged 49, who also works at the Halliwell Children's Hospital, said: "The facilities at the hospital were certainly very different to the UK. The pharmacy could run out of drugs and it was extremely difficult when we couldn't treat a child because we had run out of equipment or drugs.
"I would also like to thank my colleagues in Bolton for covering my workload. It was a fantastic experience."
4:00pm today
Wednesday, 30 May 2007
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