CHEEERS: Developing Healthcare Together (CHEEERS: DHT) is an Irish non-profit, professional volunteer multidisciplinary sending organisation (RCN: 20153335). We work together with developing communities to improve healthcare services and to promote education and training of healthcare professionals. CHEEERS stands for: Community Healthcare Empowering Education, Experiences, Relationships and Support.

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CHEEERS:DHT was established in 2015 by a group of Irish healthcare professionals who have volunteered at Kisiizi Hospital Uganda and within the local community since 2005. 

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Education and Training

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Education is now at the centre of what we do.

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Each year, CHEEERS:DHT works with our colleagues at Kisiizi Hospital to organise a multidisciplinary healthcare conference and a series of educational workshops. These are planned together with the team in Kisiizi, based on the areas they feel will be most useful for staff and services.

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CHEEERS:DHT provides funding to allow up to 100 healthcare professionals from Kisiizi and other parts of Uganda to attend. This funding helps to cover the costs associated with attending and makes the training accessible to a much larger group of healthcare professionals.

The workshops give Irish and Ugandan healthcare professionals an opportunity to share knowledge, experience and ideas. Just as importantly, they allow staff from different hospitals, services and professions in Uganda to learn from one another.

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The conference has grown considerably over the years and has become a major focus of the CHEEERS:DHT programme. We feel that investing in education and supporting healthcare professionals to develop and share their skills is one of the best ways we can contribute to lasting improvements in healthcare.

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Working Together on Service Development

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Alongside the conference and workshops, each healthcare discipline works with their counterparts in Kisiizi on projects aimed at improving services and addressing locally identified needs. These can include staff education, clinical audits, new resources or guidelines, developing ways of working and other quality improvement projects. The projects are agreed with the teams in Kisiizi with the aim to support changes that are practical, useful and can continue after the visiting team has returned home.

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Supporting Kisiizi Hospital

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CHEEERS:DHT also raises funds and provides equipitment to support projects identified as priorities by Kisiizi Hospital. Over the years, this has included support for healthcare education and training, scholarships, medical and rehabilitation equipment and other developments within the hospital.

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More recently, CHEEERS:DHT donated €25,000 towards the purchase of a new ambulance for Kisiizi Hospital, helping the hospital to provide safe and reliable transport for patients who need urgent or specialist care.

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CHEEERS:DHT has developed through a long-standing relationship with Kisiizi Hospital and the people who work there. We see our role as working alongside our Ugandan colleagues rather than providing short-term solutions. The programme has changed a lot since our first team travelled in 2015, but the relationships behind it have remained central to what we do.

As CHEEERS continues to develop, our main focus is on education, shared learning and supporting projects that can make a lasting difference to healthcare services.

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