The Christie Charity
Improving clinical outcomes for people affected by cancer in Kenya
In July 2021, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust became part of a global health partnership, the Kenya UK Healthcare Alliance. The partnership encourages collaborative working to build capacity and undertake research to improve clinical outcomes and care for people affected by cancer in Kenya.
Building on relationships forged through the Alliance, several initiatives have since been progressed with members of the Alliance.
The first was the co-development of a ‘Foundation in Oncology’ module that can be delivered via a digital or real classroom to general nursing staff in Kenya who have not had the opportunity to formally study cancer care.
The development of this module was made possible with investment from The Christie International, enabling educationalists, clinicians, and an international fellow within the Trust to contribute their time to the project. Through regular virtual engagement with stakeholders in Kenya and Uganda, the team has ensured that the module follows the interest of the learner and adapts to cultural norms, values, and sensitivities in the context of healthcare delivery within East Africa.
Additional funding provided by THET enabled Alison Sanneh, The Christie’s Head of Digital Clinical Placements, to visit Kenya and Uganda in February 2023 to train nearly 50 facilitators to deliver this module to nurses across the 2 countries. A further visit to Kenya took place in June 2024 to support the facilitators to deliver the module across 4 counties: Garissa, Nakuru, Mombasa and Kisii. In November 2024, over 100 healthcare workers received this training.
