During Mr Sommerlad's August visit this year, he met the first group of dedicated cleft nurses (pictured above, banner photo). These nurses will not only be able to offer mothers advice on feeding their babies but they will be able to look out for any post-surgical issues that might occur. Cleft nurses are an integral part of a multidisciplinary team so the addition of these five nurses is a really positive development.

The cleft team will increase further in size with the addition of a Psychologist, a second Speech & Language Therapist and a second Orthodontist. These two new members are also likely to support two new cleft centres in Khulna and Mymensingh. You can read about the new plans for these two hospitals by clicking here.  

The SHNIBPS full team are photographed below, with Mr Sommerlad in the middle:

  

Craniofacial research project

The research project looking at craniofacial clefts is reaching its last stages and we hope that a number of papers will be published with the findings. This project was largely funded with a donation from a grant giving body but it was also part funded with donations made to CLEFT. This is an important study looking into the likely causes of this complex type of cleft.

Kamrul pictured before surgery as a baby and how he looks now after a number of surgeries. He will need more operations before he reaches adulthood but he will be supported by the SHNIBPS multidisciplinary team. 

Team visit in January

Plans to organise a Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) team visit to Dhaka for a series of workshops are underway. The trip will take place at the end of January 2023. Members from speech and language therapy, orthodontics, surgery and nursing last visited Bangladesh in 2018 and due to the difficulties of travelling during the Covid pandemic, this will be the first possible visit since. Educational workshops are an excellent way to share new practices, techniques and experiences so it is an important visit.