A team of doctors at Newcastle Hospitals have travelled to Nepal to support colleagues and share their specialist skills as part of an established cleft care partnership.
The visit involved members of the cleft team working alongside staff at the Nepal Burns & Cleft Centre at Kirtipur Hospital in Kathmandu.
The cleft care partnership is a longstanding relationship between the two teams, focused on working together, sharing knowledge and improving services, particularly the importance of early cleft care.
A cleft palette is a condition present at birth when the roof of the mouth does not fully join together during development in the womb, leaving a gap or opening.
When treatment is delayed or unavailable, often in lower-income settings, children can be left malnourished and unable to speak or hear properly.
During the visit, the team worked in joint clinics and delivered teaching sessions with local staff including surgery, nursing, speech and language therapy, orthodontics, psychology and anaesthesia.
The Newcastle team, who generously volunteer their personal time to support this partnership, also delivered essential equipment and teaching materials to enhance both patient care and staff training. These items help fill gaps where resources are limited and support ongoing service improvement.
A key focus of the partnership is building sustainable local expertise, including training the next generation of cleft surgeons. The new CLEFT Bridging the Gap Fellowship is helping strengthen services at Kirtipur Hospital and extend specialist care to five outreach centres across Nepal.
Throughout the year the teams keep in touch through online meetings and shared learning, helping the collaboration continue beyond individual visits.
David Sainsbury, consultant plastic surgeon at Newcastle Hospitals, said: “It’s a real privilege to partner with such a skilled and dedicated cleft team in Nepal. We learn a great deal from each other, all with the shared goal of giving the best care to our patients and their families.
“This partnership helps build local expertise by focusing on training whole teams, developing clear processes, and supporting research, so high-quality cleft care can be delivered locally every day rather than relying on short-term visits.
“The relationship is genuinely two-way. Our team gains valuable insight into delivering effective care with limited resources, as well as different cultural approaches to treatment and communication, which we use to improve our own services. The partnership is designed to last and deeply embedded within both teams, so it can continue even as staff or funding changes.”
Mel Baldwin, COO at Cleft, added: “At CLEFT Bridging the Gap, we see Nepal as part of a wider international commitment to improving access to specialist cleft care where the need is greatest. Through our partnerships in countries including Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Egypt and Iraq, we work to connect clinical expertise across borders.
“Research is central to this mission. CLEFT funds research into the causes, treatment and long-term outcomes of cleft lip and palate and we are committed to ensuring that this knowledge is shared beyond the UK’s specialist centres.”
