| Academic Papers |
| Newspaper Articles |
| Trust Newsletters |
| Events |
| Media |
| SCT Relationships |
| Consultants – Training |
 |
 |
 |
Recent EventsApril 2012April 2012Dr Pietroni and his wife have both been offering their medical services for 15 years in Bangladesh but will be leaving the country this summer. They have been using our SCT System since 2000 and would like to thank everyone for their help and advice in treating their patients, "The Swinfen Charitable Trust is a wonderful thing". Dr M Pietroni & Dr T Pietroni. Congratulations to Dr Peter Buxton who has recently been promoted to Surgeon Commodore and now commands the Defence Medical Group. He has also been appointed to an honorary position to the Queen. Dr Buxton has been a part of The Swinfen Charitable Trust from the very beginning as an advisor and a medical consultant to which we are very grateful. April 2012A kind message from a very brave and hard working Iraqi doctor…
January 2012Lord and Lady Swinfen along with his Excellency Dr Sureshchandra Chalise (The Ambassador of Nepal) attended an annual dinner in aid of the Char Bhanjyang Tamu Samaj UK development project in Nepal.
The 2011 Great South Run Team were also at the dinner.
Due to the interest of this popular event the 2012 team has increased. If you wish to take part and help to raise funds for Swinfen Charitable Trust please contact us.
December 2011Dear Lady and Lord Swinfen, Here is a X Mas Card to let you know how grateful my colleagues and I are in respect to what you are doing for benefit of our patients. Never forget all your kind and valuable assistance. With best wishes Maria
November 2011
Char Banjyang, Kathmandu Committee welcome the Swinfen visitors to see the site and progress of the New Medical Clinic in Khalte village, Nepal. The clinic will be named: "Khalte Centre for Health". November 2011Karen Rheuban, MD, Senior Associate Dean for CME and External Affairs, Director of the University of Virginia Center for Telehealth and SCT Consultant participated via video in the second Iranian E-Health and Telemedicine conference, on November 9, 2011. The Conference, held in Tehran, was supported by the Ministry of Health and Sharif University, with a goal of advancing adoption of telehealth models of care. October 2011
Congratulations to Sharon (SCT Fundraiser), Debbie, Alan, Charlie, Karen and Lynda (Supporters of SCT) for completing the "Great South Run" which was held in Portsmouth on the 30th October 2011. This was a 10 mile race with the last 2 miles along the seafront straight, which was hard work given the head-on wind and rain! Funds were raised for the new and much needed medical clinic in Khalte, Nepal. (If you wish to donate please visit Sharon's page on just Giving) September 2011Many thanks to Charlie Mayo who took part in the Endurancelife "Coast to Coast" Triathlon on the 17th September to raise funds for a computer and camera for the new medical clinic in Khalte, Nepal. He cycled 24 miles from the middle of Dartmoor to Totnes, Kayaked 7 miles down the river Dart and the ran 19 miles to East Pawl along the costal path. (If you wish to donate please visit Charlie's page on Just Giving) August 2011The Trust is delighted to welcome Mr Charles Cox, OBE, TD, FRCSEd, FRCOG, as a Trustee. Mr Cox, who is already a consultant to the Trust in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, works for The Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust. July 2011Professor Jacinta Tobin (Consultant in Paediatric Gastroenterology) of the University of Melbourne, presented a Poster and distributed information about Swinfen Telemedicine at a meeting of the Commonwealth Association for Paediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition in London on 22nd July. June 2011
16 June 2011Congratulations to Professor James Ryan, SCT trustee on the award of The Order of the British Empire (OBE) in HM The Queen's Birthday Honours.
2 June 2011Katherine Swinfen Eady, SCT Trustee held a joint Exhibition of work on 2 June in London with Captain Harry Parker to raise awareness and the need for funds for Swinfen Telemedicine and Walking WithThe Wounded. A large number attended and many of the paintings by both artists were sold. The money Katherine raised will go towards building the medical clinics in Khalte, Nepal. May 20119 May 2011Lord and Lady Swinfen, Co-Directors, attended the American Telemedicine Association (ATA) 16th Annual International Meeting and Exposition in Florida, between 1 and 3 May 2011. Lord Swinfen is a Director of the ATA. Lady Swinfen gave a presentation on the work of Swinfen Telemedicine. 5 May 2011An Exhibition to raise awareness and funds for the Swinfen Charitable Trust (Swinfen telemedicine) and Walking With The Wounded is being held on 2 June 2011 in London. The Exhibition features paintings by Trustee, Katherine Swinfen Eady and Captain Harry Parker, Afghanistan veteran. You can view the paintings online and make purchases or donate to these two worthy causes.. www.artexhibition.webstarts.com April 2011April 2011Following extensive fundraising efforts by a number of people, the Swinfen Charitable Trust was able to make the first payment towards the building of a Medical Clinic in Khalte, Nepal, that will serve 14,000 people in Khalte and neighbouring villages. The thanks from Hon Lt Chandra Bahadur Gurung, Chairman of Char Bhanjyang Tamu Samaj UK, is shown below. You can read about the project in our Spring Newsletter and can also give to the project on our Just Giving page. "Dear my Lord and Lady, Namaste. I hope you are well. Today is the Nepalese New Year 2068. I, Bimla and all members of Char Bhanjyang Tamu Samaj UK would like to wish you, your family and Sharon a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR 2068 BC. MAY NEW YEAR BRING YOU PEACE PROSPERITY AND HAPPINESS. I received a Cheque of £10000 for the Medical Clinic Project in Khalte. It is a great day for our community and dream has come true with a fantastic New Year present. I have already informed Capt Deo and asked him to start construction work. I am going to inform all my community with a New Year massage. My Lord and Lady, I and my community can not thank you enough for what you have done to help the disadvantaged children and poor people of our village. You have given them some hope and life that are hopeless, helpless and dying without simple medical care. My community joins with me to express our utmost gratitude for your generous help. I am sure the money you have given will be spent purely for the Medical Clinic and we will keep proper record and keep you update with the progress. Thank you so much. Take care. God Bless and long live the Swinfens!!
April 2011Mr Charles Cox OBE, FRCOG, SCT Consultant, features in the latest edition of the Journal of The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists following a visit last year to Haiti, with an article entitled 'Conducting obstetrics and gynaecology training in Haiti' To read the article, click here.. April 2011St. Jude Hospital, St Lucia and International Medical Corps were proud to present a conference in February 2011, on Women's Health Emergencies, supported by a grant from the Hess Corporation. Among the lecturers were SCT Consultants
To see the report click here. February 20118 February 2011Prof Richard Wootton , SCT Trustee, attended the 10th MSF Surgical Day in December 2010 where he and Dr Laurent Bonnardot, MSF, made a presentation on Telemedicine in developing countries and including the collaboration between Swinfen Telemedicine and MSF. January 2011"I just want to say what an enormous help it has been for me to be able to contact Swinfen Trust for referrals. I had got to the point of wondering how to continue, because I found it so stressful when I came across cases from other disciplines and with conditions in which I had no experience. I work in a remote area so have very little back up. Joining your trust made a a world of difference and in a couple of cases your service enabled me to manage a couple of expatriate cases successfully that I would otherwise have sent out of the area for care. I really am incredibly grateful to you and all your colleagues who make this service possible Many, many thanks" Name and location withheld for security reasons. 15 January 2011Lord and Lady Swinfen who were accompanied by Sharon Checksfield and Simon Ely were guests of honour at the Char Bhanjyang Tamu Samaj UK Dinner Night in Aldershot on 15th January 2011. (They were Piped in to Dinner, by a serving Gurkha piper, which they considered to be a great honour). There were about 250 guests both Nepalese and British, at many tables. These included Col. and Mrs Ian Foxley, Col. Ian MacKenzie, and Maj. Hugh Bardell MBE and Lt. Col. Mrs Lynda Bardell. Hon Lt Chandra Bahadur Gurung has continued to raise funds from his London Marathon run in 2010 for SCT and more was raised last evening. The total now approaches £7000. Chandra Gurung and his many guests , some of whom had travelled from his village , Khalte, in the Dhaulagiri region of the Annapurna Massif, specially for the Dinner will continue to work with the Trust to achieve a simple clinic in Khalte which will serve Khalte and the three surrounding villages, thus serving 10,000 people. A planning meeting will take place shortly to further this worthy aim. During the evening. Lady swinfen had the privilege of presenting certificates to a number of young Gurkha people who had succeeded in their education and various professions. January 2011Our readers will be interested in the following publication that includes a section on SCT at pages 62 and 63. “The second volume of the Global Observatory for eHealth Series : Telemedicine - Opportunities and developments in Member States. This publication is the result of a productive collaboration between the GOe and the University of British Columbia, eHealth Policy Unit. Telemedicine can bring the eyes of a specialist to examine a critically ill patient from halfway around the globe. It bridges the distance between people and the best health care available and can be applied to a vast range of situations - from home care to specialized clinical settings. This second volume of the Global Observatory for eHealth series examines trends in the uptake of telemedicine, from the well established to newly emerging telemedicine applications. With an emphasis on the needs of developing countries, it looks to the future with an analysis of the strategic actions required to support and strengthen telemedicine in countries. The publication is targeted at telemedicine practitioners and policymakers in health and information technology, as well as health care practitioners interested in adopting telemedicine services.” The publication is at: http://www.who.int/goe/publications/ehealth_series_vol2/en/index.html December 201014 December 2010Lord Swinfen gave a Keynote Presentation on the work of The Trust to the `TeleMed & eHealth 2010: Evidence in action` Conference at The Royal Society of Medicine October 2010There will be occasions when the aims of the Trust in bringing its service to those most in need will be better served by having a dedicated system to operate in a specific environment, rather than a link into the Trust’s facilities. This may be for legal, language or other reasons. We are delighted therefore, to be able to report that in addition to the pilot system being operated by MSF France in both French and English versions, there are further developments in other parts of the world. These include a ‘Swinfen Model ‘ system for the University of Virginia, USA for use in outreach situations; a similar system using the Greek language for a Greek charity operating in Tanzania and one using Spanish in Bolivia. There will be more opportunities in the future. September 20103 September 2010Report received from United Missions Hospitals, Pakistan.... 'Me and my team would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the invaluable advice and help that we are getting from your pool of specialists specifically and the Trust in general. This has been a timely partnership which is benefiting the local patient population in rural Pakistan. Swinfen telemedicine link is a very well organized and mature system which is comprehensive, simple to use and fast at the same time. The doctors are pleased to find the system very user-friendly with intuitive interface and there is no time wasted in learning to work on a new system. Despite the busy schedule of the specialists, they give prompt replies to our queries so that we can make better diagnoses and improve patient management. This step alone is a major help to us. Another good aspect is that the specialists are very cooperative and understand that sometimes due to field work we might not have all the information that they require and there are seldom any lab tests to go with our case referrals. Even in such circumstances they are providing us pertinent advice on case management and preventive measures to adopt in certain infectious diseases. This flood relief program is as much your effort as it is ours and we are pleased to have Swinfen Charitable Trust's help and support in this hour of need. Much thanks from the whole team of UM Healthcare Trust and looking forward to a sustained partnership. Regards, August 201011 August 2010NEWS FLASH...Floods in Pakistan. Swinfen Telemedicine has now set up the first hospital link at the United Missions’ Hospital in Mardan, North West Frontier Province, Pakistan to assist in the relief work in the devastated areas caused by the flooding. Referrals will come from both the hospital and from field staff directly involved in the rescue work and operating from the daily medical camps. Now is the time to help us in our mission. Please give generously. You can donate using our link here. 1 August 2010Pakistan floods. Swinfen offers telemedicine links to hospitals and relief organisations working in the stricken areas of NW Pakistan. July 201023 July 2010The Trust held its annual Reception in the House of Lords by kind permission of The Lord Swinfen. The Trustees were hosts to members of the Diplomatic Corps, a number of our Consultants and referring doctors, members of MSF France, friends of the Trust and a visitor from Tristan da Cunha. 15 July 2010On Thursday 15 July 2010 H.M. The Queen installed the first Asian to be a Knight of the Order of the Thistle, Lord Patel Of Dunkeld. Consultant Obstetrician and academic, the highest public honour in Scotland. The Order is second in precedence only to the Order of the Garter. It honours Scottish men and women who have contributed in a significant way to national life. Naren Patel has been an SCT consultant since the beginning of the work and has done cases for the Trust. May 201031 May 2010Adopted girl making good progress. Extract from recent email exchange between Trustee, Professor Rheuban and the parents of an adopted girl who was so sick in early life that she could not have a life-saving operation until Swinfen Telemedicine had stepped in with appropriate advice from its consultants. Dear Lord and Lady Swinfen and Dr. Howe, Thank you each for all you do in these efforts. Warmest regards, ---------------------------- We are doing great, and she is growing stronger by the day. She is walking completely unaided now, even running at times (or what is running for any normal 2 year old). 14 May 2010London marathon Chandra, our Gurkha who ran the London Marathon for us has now raised £5526.00 of which £1108.65 has been raised since the Marathon. Many thanks to all who have donated so far and please… keep giving . You can do this by going to the Marathon story and donating via the Virgin or Just Giving sites. April 201025 April 2010Hon Lt Chandra Bahadur Gurung of the Gurkhas ran the London Marathon for Swinfen Telemedicine, raising a magnificent £4,417 – so far! You can still donate online to either or, both by following the link on the website. See pictures here. 12 April 2010The Trust has been approached by Médecins sans Frontières (MSF)with a request to test a pilot version of the system in French, to extend this service even further to those most in need. Click here to see the joint press release. March 201012 March 2010“US publication Telemedicine and e-health on 12 March 2010 mentions Swinfen Telemedicine effort in Haiti See extract...” Universities of Virginia, Miami join in e-health medical effort for Haiti A partnership between the health systems at the University of Miami (UM) and the University of Virginia (UV) hopes to fill a gap between a need for medical specialists and their lack of availability following January’s massive earthquake in Haiti. According to Dr. Karen Rheuban, medical director of UV’s Office of Telemedicine and president of the American Telemedicine Association, the agreement allows specialists from both universities to remotely treat patients at the University of Miami Hospital in Port-au-Prince through the Swinfen Charitable Trust, an organization that connects physicians and their patients in poor or remote parts of the world with specialists who offer medical advice on specific cases. Dr. Anne E. Burdick, associate dean for telehealth and clinical outreach at UM’s Miller School of Medicine and longtime Swinfen consultant, added that finding alternative methods to transmit medical information has become crucial with the destruction of most of Haiti’s communications infrastructure due to the quake. Full Story 5th March 2010‘Swinfen Telemedicine is supporting University of Virginia and University of Miami in providing remote specialty care to Haitian earthquake victims though telemedicine’ download the announcement here or visit The Daily Progress article. February 20105 Feb 2010 - HaitiNancy Brown-Connolly, Nurse Consultant to Swinfen Telemedicine, and who worked with the Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center, (TATRC), US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, went to Haiti on 25 January 2010 following the earthquake and sent us some photos and a personal account of what she found. January 2009The London Marathon 25th April 2010
Hon Lt Chandra Bahadur Gurung, a retired Gurkha, is to run the 2010 London Marathon for The Swinfen Charitable Trust to raise funds for a Telemedical link to a clinic in his home village Khalte (Parbat), Dhaulagiri, in Nepal. As many areas in the developing world are in need of our help the more money we raise the more hospital links can be achieved and the more specialist medical advice can be given to doctors in remote places. Donations can be made at the Virgin Money Giving website by clicking here. December 20098 December 2009Lord Swinfen was one of three finalists in the Parliamentarian of the Year Awards (International Section). This event is open to all parliamentarians who are proposed by a charity for the award. Roger has been nominated and reached the finals in previous years and we hope that he will be successful in the future. November 2009NEW TRUSTEE The Trust is honoured and delighted to welcome Professor Karen Rheuban to the Board of Trustees. Professor Rheuban is Current President of the American Telemedicine Association. She brings a wealth of experience to the Trust and has been supporting us as a consultant (Paediatrics) for a number of years. Among her other appointments at the University of Virginia, USA, Health System, she is..
September 200923rd - 25th SeptemberAMERICAN TELEMEDICINE ASSOCIATION MID-TERM MEETING , PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA. Roger and Pat attended the three day meeting between 23 and 25 September. A busy session! 1. Recruited two more specialists 2. Approached by an organisation running medical clinics for children in HAITI, and now in process of setting up a Telemedicine link for them. (First in Haiti) 3. Approach by Prof. Maurice Mars, SCT consultant, (Nelson Mandela University , Kwa Zulu Natal) about TELE-AUDIOLOGY, wishes to set up a pilot study in this exciting “state of the art” new field of medicine . SCT has made contact with the people running this, and we await their next move. 4. ATA Director of Communications Benjamin Forstag has kindly put SCT in touch with the directors of the Specialized Paediatric Hospital in GAZA, Palestinian Territories, in order that we may set up links for the doctors working there. Lady Swinfen has written to all of the doctors. July 200927 July 2009Lord Swinfen attended a two day Meeting of the Board of Directors of the American Telemedicine Association. 27th/28th July) 13 July 2009.Roger and Pat Swinfen had the opportunity to meet with Miss Maureen Lines of the Hindu Kush Conservation Association on her visit to UK. (SCT supports Maureen with a telemedicine link in her work with the Kalash people of the North West Frontier Province) June 200918 June 2009The 10th Anniversary of the Trust was marked with a Reception at The Travellers Club, Pall Mall, London. April 200928 April 2009.Roger and Pat Swinfen attended the American Telemedicine Association’s Annual Conference in Las Vegas 25th -28th April. 30 April 2009Lord Roger Swinfen’s election to the Board of Directors of the American Telemedicine Association (ATA) became formal on 28 April 2009. Roger is one of very few international members to have been elected to the Board. Professor Karen.S. Rheuban of the University of Virginia, and a consultant of SCT’s has been elected as President of the American Telemedicine Association. 8 April 2009 – Trek to Everest.Two of our supporters set off on 5 April to walk to the Everest Base Camp, hoping to raise funds for the Trust. To see details of their trip and make a donation download the document... Note this is by cheque not part of the donations bit. We much appreciate any help you can give. March 200912th March 2009‘Need a doc?’ Article in Gulf News...http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/09/03/12/10294092.html "No place is too remote or baffling for the telemedicine system that has helped doctors in Antarctica and solved unusual cases. In its 10th year of operation, the system, run by the UK-based Swinfen Charitable Trust (SCT), links up with the Oasis Hospital in Al Ain." By Carolina D'Souza .................................. A new book entitled “Telehealth in the Developing World” has been published by RSM Press. The details of the new book are at http://www.rsmpress.co.uk/bkwooton8.htm A chapter written by the Swinfens, Richard Wootton and Peter Brooks entitled "A low-cost international e-referral network" is included Lord CRISP says in the foreword “ Who can fail to be impressed by the SWINFEN CHARITABLE TRUST and its journey? It has pioneered the use of the simplest of modern electronic technology to ensure that people working in isolation in poor countries can benefit from the opinions of specialists in the richest countries.” .................................. 10 March 2009The Swinfens attended the "Rethinking Global Health, Political and Practical challenges from Foreign and Security Policy” Conference at Chatham House on 10th/ 11th March at which various topics were discussed, including, leadership and power in the global health agenda and understanding the role of health in helping countries in post-conflict environments. It was hoped that the involvement of SCT would be a critical part of this support. We await developments to report on later. British, US, Norwegian, Japanese, South African and Thai politicians and the US/British military and many NGOs were among the attendees. February 20092 to 5 February 2009The Swinfens attended a Meeting in New York at the United Nations hosted by UN Habitat and International Council for Caring Communities. This was followed by a meeting arranged by Prof. K. S. Rheuban with Mrs Kendra Davenport of Project Hope by way of update on the Project.’ December 20088/9 December 2009On 8 and 9 December 2008, the Swinfens attended the WINDSOR HE@LTH DIALOGUES on CONFRONTING THE DISEASES OF POVERTY , a UN “Partnerships in Practice” organised Meeting at Windsor Castle. The Swinfens are members of The American Telemedical Association’s Strategies and Solutions for Global Health, Technology and Development Group who were also present at the meeting. September 2008Roger and Pat were KEYNOTE SPEAKERS at the Pediatric Colloquium of the American Telemedicine Association Mid Year Meeting in Tampa , Florida. Also in September, Roger and Pat presented a Paper at the UNIVERSITAS 21 Health Sciences Meeting at the University of Virginia. A full report on the Health Sciences Meeting by Lorraine Devitt of the university of Melbourne can be found at http://www.u21health.org/meetings/virginia2008/index.html See also Liebert Online for an interview for Telemedicine and e-Health entitled ‘Telethinking: with Right Honorable Lord Roger Swinfen and Lady pat Swinfen Download the presentation for the event - Download PDF August 2008Various interviews for foreign media April 2008Roger spoke at the American Telemedicine Conference in Seattle and six weeks later attended the iCONS conference in Chicago regarding telemedical support for the Iraqi Health Sector. International meeting at the Royal Society of Medicine entitled International Ophthalmology Home and Away at which Roger Swinfen was invited to speak about the work of the Trust, with particular emphasis on Ophthalmology. Reception at St James Palace The annual reception for dignitaries, consultants and friends of the Trust was held at St James’s Palace in London on the 12th June 2008. This year’s speech was given by the esteemed Professor Thamer Hamdan. The meeting gave supporters of the Trust an opportunity to reflect on the achievements of the past year. The event was hailed as a great success by all those who attended. International Conferences To disseminate the results and outcomes of the Trust’s work the directors of the charity actively participate in conferences relevant to the academic field of telemedicine. Lord Swinfen presented at the American Telemedicine Association Conference held in Seattle in April 2008. He also attended the Icons Conference, “Medical Aid to Iraq” held in Chicago in May of this year. Honorary Awards The Swinfen Charitable Trust has enjoyed steady growth over the years and is now recognised internationally as a significant player in the field of telemedicine. Tangible recognition of the Trust’s contribution was the award of an MBE to Lady Swinfen in the 2006 New Year’s Honours list for services to telemedicine overseas. In 2008, the Norman Rowe International Educational Foundation awarded the Trust’s directors Lord and Lady Swinfen the Norman Rowe International Educational Trust Medal for ‘Service to Others’ at a recent awards ceremony in Cardiff. One of the charity’s Trustees, Professor James M Ryan, has recently been awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Society of Medicine for his work and achievements in the field of humanitarian medicine. |
