Some Background on RVTH

The First Hundred Years

The Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH) was built in the 1890s by the British, who also provided funds for a substantial uplift in facilities in 1953 to coincide with the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. This provided many of the buildings that make up the hospital today.

In addition to buildings, there have been continuing links with the UK primarily through VSO, who have provided six VSO Paediatricians, one A&E doctor, two Accountants, one Engineer, one Management Adviser, one Fundraiser, one IT Specialist, and two Pharmacists over a number of years.

We have also had help from a large number of staff from Nigeria, both medical and non-medical, and more recently from Cuba- at the moment, approx half our doctors are from Cuba on two-year secondments. We also employ doctors from many other countries, including many from the West African sub-region.

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RVH Becomes RVTH - A Teaching Hospital for Medical Students

In the late 1990s, The Gambian Government decided that it had to reduce its dependency on foreign doctors by establishing a medical school in the University of The Gambia. The UTG uses RVTH to teach its clinical students.

The first 15 medical students – all Gambians – came to RVTH in November, 2002.

RVTH now has 23 trained Gambian doctors

Within 10 years, this programme should make a huge contribution to healthcare in The Gambia, because by then, Gambians will represent the bulk of the doctors in the country – the resulting continuity, skill levels and language knowledge should transform the quality of patient care provided.

Turning RVH into RVTH has required a substantial commitment and investment and there has been a very big building programme.

Most of this building cost has been met by the Gambian Government, but substantial help has also been given by Standard Chartered Bank and by a Gambian citizen living in the UK, Mrs Faith Cole Mbolo, who have respectively funded two major building projects, in Paediatrics and A&E.

So, in recent years, The Gambia has been doing much on its own initiative to take essential steps to create RVTH and so, to improve the healthcare of the nation.

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Numbers of Patients at RVTH and their Needs

We have 540 beds – the biggest two Departments are Paediatrics and Obstetrics and Gynaecology (including Maternity).

We also provide Mental Health Services, and have an Infectious Diseases Hospital, as well as a Polyclinic that looks after the Primary Healthcare needs of most people in Banjul.

The biggest "killer" disease in The Gambia is malaria, with young children and pregnant women being particularly vulnerable, but diabetes, high blood pressure, pneumonia and eye problems such as trachoma and cataracts are also major health problems.

The following figures for 2003 will give you an idea of how many people used RVTH in that year and what they came here for:

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