Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital (EFSTH) is a

tertiary referral hospital A tertiary referral hospital (also called a tertiary hospital, tertiary referral center, tertiary care center, or tertiary center) is a hospital that provides tertiary care, which is a level of health care obtained from specialists in a large ho ...

Banjul Banjul (, (US) and ), officially the City of Banjul, is the capital city of The Gambia. It is the centre of the eponymous administrative division which is home to an estimated 400,000 residents, making it The Gambia's largest and most densely ...

, the capital city of

The Gambia The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...

. It is the largest hospital in the country, originally founded by British colonialists in 1853. Until 2013, it was known as the Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital (RVTH).

History

Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital (EFSTH) was founded in 1853 by the British colonial government of what was then the

Gambia Colony and Protectorate The Gambia Colony and Protectorate was the British colonial administration of The Gambia from 1821 to 1965, part of the British Empire in the New Imperialism era. The colony was the immediate area surrounding Bathurst (now Banjul), and the p ...

. The

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

(WHO) donated two million dalasis-worth of equipment for maternal and childcare in 2014. In 2019, the Nurses' Association at the hospital made a public statement lamenting poor working conditions and low salary. In particular, they named the lack of basic items such as proper bins to dispose of waste and fridges to keep medications and other items.

Departments

Paediatrics

The

paediatric Pediatrics (American English) also spelled paediatrics (British English), is the branch of medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Prev ...

department has 100 beds and admits around 3000 patients annually. It primarily admits patients with severe malaria, acute respiratory infection, malnutrition, septicaemia, and gastroenteritis.

Maternity

Maternity care Midwifery is the health science and health profession that deals with pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period (including care of the newborn), in addition to the sexual and reproductive health of women throughout their lives. In many cou ...

in The Gambia is free and is provided by the government. Evidence suggests that more than half of

caesarean section Caesarean section, also known as C-section, cesarean, or caesarean delivery, is the Surgery, surgical procedure by which one or more babies are Childbirth, delivered through an incision in the mother's abdomen. It is often performed because va ...

s in The Gambia are carried out at EFSTH.

Blood

There is a

blood bank A blood bank is a center where blood gathered as a result of blood donation is stored and preserved for later use in blood transfusion. The term "blood bank" typically refers to a department of a hospital usually within a clinical pathology labora ...

at EFSTH, but blood is often in short supply and patients' relatives are often required to donate their own blood. This can result in delays to emergency

blood transfusion Blood transfusion is the process of transferring blood products into a person's Circulatory system, circulation intravenously. Transfusions are used for various medical conditions to replace lost components of the blood. Early transfusions used ...

services.

Teaching

EFSTH became a teaching hospital during the 1990s, in order to tackle the reliance on foreign doctors. The school is operated in conjunction with the

University of the Gambia The University of the Gambia (UTG) is an institution of higher education located in Kanifing, the Gambia. History The campus was founded in 1998 in Kotu-Kanifing District, Kanifing, a suburb of Sere Kunda. It was not until March 1999 that the U ...

. Its first intake was in 1999 and it had taught 76 doctors by the end of 2011. It offers a six-year undergraduate

MBBS A Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (; MBBS, also abbreviated as BM BS, MB ChB, MB BCh, or MB BChir) is a medical degree granted by medical schools or universities in countries that adhere to the United Kingdom's higher education tradi ...

course.

References

{{Coord, 13, 27, 27, N, 16, 34, 39, W, type:landmark_region:GM-B, display=title Hospital buildings completed in 1853 Buildings and structures in Banjul Teaching hospitals Hospitals in the Gambia