Ebola treatment centre in Sierra Leone to be run by UK health charity

Doctors of the World UK is to run a 100-bed Ebola treatment centre in Sierra Leone that’s being custom-built in a town called Moyamba.

The centre, run with Spanish counterparts Médicos del Mundo in partnership with Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Health, will be staffed by NHS doctors and nurses as well as clinicians from Norway. 

The project is being led by Chris Bulstrode, Emeritus Professor at Oxford University and Professor John Wright, a clinical epidemiologist and director of the Bradford Institute for Health Research.

Professor Bulstrode will be heading out to Sierra Leone with the first UK staff today (Saturday 22 November). This will be the first time NHS staff have been deployed in such a way and there will be regular staff rotations over the coming months.

British Army building Ebola treatment centre

The centre, funded by the Department for International Development, is currently being built by British Army Royal Engineers and is due to open in December.

Gareth Walker, International Programme Manager for Doctors of the World UK is coordinating the project from the UK:

“It’s amazing to think what was just one month ago a muddy field in the wilderness will soon be a fully-functioning, state of the art Ebola treatment centre,” he says.

“It will be extremely well equipped and designed, not sticks and plastic sheeting but a solid structure with exceptionally high safety standards including advanced water systems, medical incinerators, and dedicated roads. 

“The UK should be proud of its efforts so far, especially the brave and dedicated staff who are going out there with the singular aim to help the Sierra Leonean people defeat the Ebola crisis.”