King’s Global Health Partnerships works with health facilities, academic institutions and governments to strengthen health systems and improve the quality of care in four countries: Somaliland, Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia. We bring together expertise from King’s College London, King’s Health Partners’ NHS Trusts and our international partners to:

Educate, train and support healthcare workers
Strengthen healthcare and training institutions
Enhance national health policies and systems.

We connect UK and African health professionals, providing training, mentoring and hands-on support; and undertake collaborative research to inform policy and practice. We also support our partners by providing access to funding, networks and development opportunities. Through these long-term partnerships and our global volunteering scheme we promote skills and knowledge exchange. This mutual learning contributes to building a stronger health workforce and improved quality of healthcare both internationally and in the UK.

King's Sierra Leone Partnership

The King’s Sierra Leone Partnership (KSLP) was established in 2013 and works to strengthen the health system with a focus on the following areas:

The challenges of Sierra Leone’s healthcare system are well-known: chronic underfunding and a shortage of qualified workers, coupled with an underlying high burden of both communicable and non-communicable diseases. Between 2014 and 2016, Sierra Leone was hit by an Ebola outbreak, with the country counting a total of 14,124 cases, including 3,955 deaths. King’s responded to the outbreak alongside senior leaders in government hospitals and other local partners. Although key health indicators are improving – childhood and maternal mortality rates have declined over the last 5 years – Sierra Leoneans continue to face many challenges when it comes to accessing high quality health care.

Impacts

Since 2013, the King’s Sierra Leone Partnership has:

• Implemented a functioning triage system for patients at Connaught Hospital

• Supported over 60,000 patients to access timely and appropriate care, through the National Referral System (NRS)

• Provided clinical, psychosocial and logistical support in the Ebola response in 2014/15 and the recent Covid-19 pandemic.

Our Partners

We work with Connaught Hospital, the main adult teaching and tertiary referral hospital in Sierra Leone; the College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences (COMAHS), the country’s only medical and pharmacy school; and the Government of Sierra Leone

Global Volunteering Scheme

King’s Kongo Central Partnership

King’s Zambia Partnership