History of Link
The Butabika-East London Link is a multi-disciplinary, institution-to-institution collaboration between East London NHS Foundation Trust and Butabika National Referral Hospital, Uganda.
Formally operating since 2005, the aim of the partnership is to better mental health in the UK and Uganda through mutual learning and collaboration.
In keeping with this aim, a variety of projects have been carried out over the past decade of collaboration, with a focus on:
- Training and development: Building the capabilities, capacity, skills and leadership of mental health workers and other health staff in Uganda
- Service user involvement: Increasing the involvement of users and carers in the development of mental health services in Uganda
- Creating dialogue: Building the skills and ideas of East London staff through relationships with Butabika Hospital and other Ugandan organisations and people
- Advocacy: Contributing to national debates about mental health in international development
Active Work Streams
There are a number of clinical workgroups that make up the Butabika Link, and members can come from within the East London NHS Trust or any other individuals who may be interested in becoming more involved.
The Link currently has active work streams in:
- Service User Involvement
- Child and Adolescent Mental Health
- Epilepsy
- Nursing
- Psychology and Psychological Therapy
- Occupational Therapy
- Safeguarding
- Pharmacology
Workstream members meet regularly in the UK (meetings are set by the workstream lead) and work closely with Ugandan colleagues to identify needs, design and implement projects and provide ongoing professional support and shared learning.