VICTIMS of war will be among patients a team from the Bradford Royal Infirmary will be treating while on a mission to help those in need in Sierra Leone.

David Dickson, Consultant Orthopaedic Hand and Wrist Surgeon, Zakir Shariff, Consultant Plastic Surgeon and Sara Dixon, Specialist Hand Physiotherapist have landed in Makeni, the province's largest city, for their two-week stint at the Holy Spirit Hospital.

The three volunteers will carry out hand, plastic and reconstructive surgery to improve the lives of patients who would otherwise go untreated.

Speaking before they left,David said: “I was set to go out to Sierra Leone four years ago but unfortunately, an Ebola outbreak prevented me at the last minute. The trip will be exciting but there’s definitely a bit of anxiety too as we’ll be undertaking hand surgery in a setting where they have minimal resources. We understand they had an X-ray machine but this is now broken and the anaesthetic gas we’ll be using was last seen in the NHS about 15 years ago."

He added: “People have very little there and don’t have access to medicines we take for granted. For example, we’re taking paracetamol and ibuprofen for pain relief. We also have a big bag full of dressings.”

Zakir, who has had experience working in camps in India as a volunteer surgeon, said support for the trip had been amazing.

"Colleagues have raised money for patients at the hospital because it costs £5 just to be seen and £50 for any surgery," he said."The response has been very touching."

He said it was hoped the trip would be the first of many visits, forging a lasting link between the Holy Spirit Hospital and the Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. ReSurge Africa, a Scottish-based charity,which provides technical support in the area of reconstructive plastic surgery has also donated surgical kit.

Sara is also no stranger to volunteering abroad. When not at work she gives her time supporting SAMS (Syrian American Medical Society), a leading humanitarian organisation, which works to save lives in Syria and neighbouring countries. She has worked with refugees from Syria in Greece and in various clinics and projects in Jordan and Egypt.

She said: “The work we will be doing is upper limb and many of the injuries and conditions we’ll be treating will include things such as old, chronic ulcers, electrical burns, fractures and wounds needing skin grafts; injuries that have been neglected simply because there are no hand surgeons at the hospital. A lot of the patients will be war victims, with various problems."

The team has already completed all their trust work scheduled for when they are away in their own time. For more information visit www.hsh-makeni.com.