February is Heart Month, and a good opportunity to recognise the work of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Paediatric Cardiac Physiologist, Ceilidh Dunn.
Ceilidh specialises in congenital heart conditions at the Royal Hospital for Children, Glasgow (RHC).
Day-to-day she scans children’s hearts at the Scotland-wide paediatric cardiac service operated out of the RHC, works with surgeons in theatre teams for post-surgery care and pacemaker implants, and supports the work of other wards, including the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit.
In December 2022, an opportunity became available for Ceilidh to fly to Gambia to provide support to children with undiagnosed heart conditions. The trip meant that Ceilidh needed to travel during her annual leave from the RHC, but still it was an experience that she didn’t pass up. In fact, she found it so rewarding that she returned for a second time in December 2023.
The Gambia trips were organised by a Consultant Paediatrician at Raigmore Hospital, Dr Reddeppa Thimmarayanagari (Dr Reddy). Dr Reddy organised the fundraising and logistics for the project, and Ceilidh donated both her time and services. Ceilidh explained how she became involved.
“Two years ago, one of the Physiologists that was scheduled to attend the trip couldn’t make it, so I put my name down to go in her place. I knew that the cardiac services available in Gambia were minimal and that it would be a fantastic opportunity to help them build their skills.
“The remit of our first trip was to help set up diagnostic services in paediatric cardiology in the Edward Francis Small Teaching hospital, situated in Banjul. They didn’t really have any diagnostic services at that point. Everything was based on clinical examinations and the hospital didn’t have any equipment to perform Echocardiograms.
“We were fortunate enough to have an Echo machine, donated by Raigmore Hospital, shipped out prior to our visit. We spent our time seeing patients and training Dr Lamin Makalo on how to use it so that they could begin to diagnose themselves. We were able to see around 80 patients over five days.
“On our next visit, we were able to take two Echo machines. One of these was a decommissioned machine from the Royal Hospital for Children, Glasgow, and bought by the charity Scottish Children with heart disorders, that we could donate to the hospital. The second machine was from Raigmore Hospital, Inverness. Both machines were shipped to Banjul prior to our visit.
“On the second visit, we had two physiologists as Ruth Jeays from Raigmore Hospital joined us. We were able to split our roles on this visit so that one physiologist could spend their efforts on solely training the doctors, showing them hands on time with the donated equipment, while the other could spend time on the service,” she said.
Ceilidh explained that she, Ruth and Dr Reddy have continued their relationship with the teams in Gambia.
“They’re working hard to get their diagnostic services up and running, and doing all they can to progress their practical skills. We’ve organised it so that they can contact us if they require any help or if they are having difficulties scanning with the machines,” she said.
Ceilidh also expressed her gratitude for Dr Reddy.
“Dr Reddy works hard throughout the year to secure the funding to make these trips happen. These projects take a lot of time to bring together and everyone involved is incredibly grateful to him for that. In doing so, he has made a significant impact on paediatric cardiac care in Gambia. I am happy that I have been able to be part of these activities,” she said.