The original Children’s Ward in the 90’s had a very high mortality rate. The highest mortality rate was under four-year-olds and in one month alone 337 children died from Malaria in the most distressing conditions imaginable.

Staff back then were faced with the impossible task of treating and providing medication as they navigated by candlelight or kerosene lamps due to constant electrical failures that could last for weeks. Up to four children shared mattresses contaminated with every imaginable body fluid. Rats and cockroaches vastly outnumbered the patients.

Fundraising enabled a new 80 bed Children’s Unit to open in June 2007. To include Premature and Neonatal Unit, Intensive Care, Dressings, Malnutrition, Burns and Play Therapy treatment rooms. In 2022 the unit was upgraded to include plaster board ceilings hardwearing porcelain tiles on the floor, ceiling fans, and LED lighting throughout the Unit. In 2022 1,889 children were admitted for treatment.

Nearly 50% of equipment that’s shipped to Africa lays gathering dust as it is inappropriate for low resource countries.

The Bansang Hospital Appeal (BHA) has funded a plumber and two electricians to be trained at the Gambian Technical Training Institute and the hospital also has its first female electrician! Toilets and hand basins have been installed into every department and the whole hospital has been rewired with the addition of LED lighting throughout; safety is taken very seriously and fire extinguishers are provided throughout the hospital and staff quarters.

The BHA has sponsored over 60 state enrolled Nurses, covering community, travel and living expenses whilst doing their final year practical assignments in hospitals and clinics around the country. The BHA also sponsor 34 staff working in the hospital.

The BHA has reversed what was a grave problem in Bansang Hospital, migration. This was going to lead to the closure of the hospital in 1997, leaving 600,000 people with no health care, this remains a global problem today. Staff are now happy to work in rural Bansang Hospital that serves a population of over 600,00 people, mainly subsistence farmers. The BHA has extended and renovated 72 accommodation units for medical staff to include two bedroomed homes for Gambian doctors who are now happy to leave the comfort and amenities of the coast to work in Bansang. The continuation of extending and upgrading dilapidated one room blocks into homes is a key element to securing key medical staff.

Every quarter Form Nutrition donate a percentage of its profits from on-line sales to the Form Feeding Fund at BH. The fund is used to feed a patient’s family member, many arrive with no funds to support their feeding as nearly 96% of the population we serve are subsistence farmers. In the past, escorts have absconded with their loved ones against a doctor’s advice.

A daily food allowance has stopped this fateful move and patients will stay in the hospital until they are ready to be discharged. Milk formula for orphaned babies’ and for babies whose mothers are unable to breast feed is always in demand. Funding from Form Nutrition provides regular formula for approximately 120 babies each year as well as prescription medicines that are not available in the hospital and transportation and living costs should the patient needed to be referred to the Teaching Hospital, a minimum 500 mile round trip!

The BHA, through the generosity of donors has been able to donate a 25kg sack of rice to all of its 557 members of staff for the past three years.

The original Female Ward was originally up a long flight of stairs making it very difficult for sick women and those with mobility issues to access. BHA has converted the wards into a new Administration Unit and a large Conference/Training Centre.

Following the refurbishment of the old Children’s Unit, the Female Ward is now on the ground floor. Refurbishments included an increased ceiling height to markedly reduce the high temperatures and make it more bearable, LED lighting, durable porcelain floors and large aluminium windows for improved ventilation and light.

The Labour Ward in 2022 recorded 2,252 women giving birth in Bansang Hospital. Many of the patients had been referred from the 45 referral clinics that the hospital serves which includes three in neighbouring Senegal. BHA has funded a new Obstetric Theatre. Plans are being considered to combine all the Obstetric, and Gynae departments into one area of the hospital, this will improve the care and efficiency in this unpredictable department that receives many critical cases that have been referred to the hospital.