THREE Stoke-on-Trent surgeons will be operating on broken bones and worn-out joints as usual next month – but they will belong to patients living 4,500 miles away.
The doctors are preparing for a three-week mission to Nepal where they will swap the University Hospital of North Staffordshire for operating theatres in Kathmandu.
Their colleagues at the Hartshill complex will divide up the work they leave behind as the trio of orthopaedic surgeons – Professor Peter Thomas, David Griffiths and Kevin Smith – bring people on the other side of the world their only hope of an end to their agony.
The consultants aim to operate on around 40 patients during their stay in one of the world's poorest countries – as well as teaching their advanced techniques to some of its 450 surgeons.
And besides the normal fare of injuries caused by falls and road crashes, they expect to see some unusual cases too.
Mr Griffiths, who is on his fourth mission in 13 years to Nepal, said: "We have treated people who have fallen out of trees, suffered gunshot wounds – and even had one lady whose knee was injured by a bite from a bear."
Ahead of their arrival on April 28, the specialists have been emailed X-rays of the cases which have already been selected for operations by medics at the Government-run hospital in Kathmandu. Richer people needing joint replacements in Nepal pay to travel to India for the work so those due to be helped by the Potteries team would otherwise have had to live with their painful conditions.
Even the lucky ones face a bigger risk than patients in Britain of their operation wound becoming infected.
Professor Thomas, who is going to Nepal for the second time, said: "It's a real culture shock when you see the conditions in hospitals over there compared with here.
"They are dirty and inefficient and prone to infection.
"And because there is so little follow-up care, people just have to face the risk of complications developing unchecked.
"But morally we have to do what we can."
Besides the more traditional operations, the specialists will be carrying out the first elbow replacement surgery to be attempted in Nepal.
Charities which funded previous trips are no longer involved so the doctors will be taking some instruments from their own hospital and manufacturers have donated joints and paid their air fares.
Mr Griffiths added: "The University Hospital has supported us all the way and both present and previous medical directors have allowed us to go in our work time instead of taking our holidays. Neither will they have to bring in locums to cover for us as our colleagues have agreed to share out our work.
"This is all a good example of a well-off nation helping a poor one out."
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