A hand therapist from The Horder Centre is preparing to return to Sierra Leone to support the development of the country’s first purpose-built reconstruction and burns unit.
Pascalle Smith is part of a multidisciplinary team with the British Society for Surgery of the Hand (BSSH), the British Association of Hand Therapists (BAHT) and charity ReSurge Africa. Over the years, the group has visited Sierra Leone to build local capacity for managing upper limb injuries and advancing physiotherapy services.
Pascalle, who has worked at The Horder Centre since 2008, explains: “Civil war and the Ebola epidemic left a severe shortage of healthcare professionals, and as recently as 2019 there were only seven qualified physiotherapists nationwide. To address this gap, the Danish NGO Masanga DK launched a five-year Physiotherapy BSc and Diploma programme with international support.
“I’m so proud to support the programme with upper limb therapy teaching. The first 15 BSc physiotherapists graduated in 2023, with a further 15 Diploma students this year now serving their communities.”
However, the urgent need for specialist services was further highlighted in 2021. When a fuel tanker exploded in the streets of Freetown in 2021, killing 153 people and leaving hundreds more with devastating injuries, it exposed a harsh reality: Sierra Leone had virtually no specialist services to treat complex burns and reconstruction cases.
To help address this, BSSH, BAHT and ReSurge Africa are now supporting the country’s first dedicated plastics, reconstruction and burns unit, based in Connaught Hospital.
Opening in November 2025, the unit will have an operating theatre, recovery room, high dependency area, and 30 beds over one paediatric ward and two adult wards.
"This project showcases what's possible when local healthcare leaders work hand-in-hand with international partners," Pascalle adds. "Advanced specialist orthopaedic, burns and hand therapy services will help restore not just physical function, but dignity and independence. The unit will provide orthopaedic services for injuries from road traffic, industrial, and agricultural accidents, addressing the full spectrum of trauma we see in Sierra Leone."
Pascalle is returning to Sierra Leone this October, to train 12 first-year physiotherapy diploma students and run a two-day specialised course on upper limb fracture and tendon rehabilitation for qualified therapists—working directly with local healthcare providers.
"We are continuing to identify areas of specialised training and gaps in skills, equipment and resources," she says. "This work is only possible thanks to the Ministry of Health's commitment and those who support us and donate equipment such as Horder Healthcare."
To find out more about the project or to make a donation, please visit Resurge Africa website.
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