The Rehabilitation Centres For Children in Kolkata is where I once underwent 2 years of corrective surgery to give me a chance to be independent. A few weeks ago, i went back there to make a documentary for Al Jazeera English about my life.
RCFC was established by some amazing people due to the inspiration and back-breaking work of a British nurse, Jane Webb OBE. Jane died a few years back, shortly after fulfilling her dream of becoming an Indian citizen.
RCFC is her legacy to the world and I owe so much to her, her vision and all the doctors, physiotherapists, teachers, calliper makers, surgeons, fundraisers, administrators and volunteers who have given their time either for free or for a pittance to RCFC.
Since getting back to London, I have been chatting to Dr William Bunting who is a surgeon and has spent a lot of time at RCFC. We both have the same meeting of minds as to how we both wish to help them grow and raise funding to. Here is an article he Dr.Bunting wrote:
APPROACH TO ORTHOPAEDIC CARE OF DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN AROUND KOLKATA.
Rehabilitation Centres for Children (RCFC) was established 35yrs ago,in the southern suburbs of Kolkata by Jane Webb,an English nurse nd has grown in size and scope since then, its facilities are now extended to the children of the rural poor in Orissa,West Bengal and even Bangladesh.
Originally treating the ravages of polio,it now deals with many other orthopaedic conditions such as neglected club foot,cerebral palsy, complex lower limb deformities such as congenital pseudarthrosis of the tibia,and neglected fractures. Although polio is much less common due to effective vaccination programs (RCFC actively participates in this) there is still a large reservoir of untreated post-polio paralysis in the outlying areas.
This charity also provides, as well as surgical expertise, continuing education,teaching of practical skills,physiotherapy, aids and appliances and a happy environment.There is no network of GPs,and referall is by word of mouth or from the outreach “camps”.These are large outpatient clinics,about 3-5 hrs away by either train or 4wd car,and are often held in primitive conditions.
There are 2 orthopaedic surgeons,in busy city practice each doing an outpatient clinic and an operating list every week .They and their supporting anaesthetists give their services on a pro bono basis,and receive help from a paediatrician.An RMO completes the team,and looks after 20+ inpatients.
I attended,and was cordially received,from Jan.to April 2008.I offered my services filling gaps wherever I could,be this operating,assisting or doing outpatients or the distant camps.The standard of surgery was very high and I learned much about the surgery of old polio,a condition which I had never treated in the UK.
All the staff were friendly and helpful in spite of some language problems, and cricket proved to be a common interest. The theatre equipment and instruments were old and were kept going by frequent repairs.The operating table had seen better days and was not adjustable by even the most dedicated anaesthetist.It was encouraging to see that all orthopaedic instruments,and implants are now made in India,and are of high quality.
The camps were a challenge. Always held on a Sunday, a 5am start from base was required,because of the journey time.I did a camp on Sagar Island in the Ganges delta,and the travel time was over 5 hours,part of it by ferry. The start was delayed by a reception,with food, speeches by local politicians,and garlanding while the 120 patients each with at least one parent waited outside.The clinic room was a straw hut with 2 wooden tables as couches and there was a bucket of cold water and soap.
The summer heat had not yet started,but the temperature was 35 degrees,and when the generator was fired up,I had a fan.After 98 patients,and six and a half hours we had to leave to catch the last ferry back to the mainland, ( I returned later to see the rest) I got to bed at midnight exhausted. There was no local doctor so many non orthopaedic children came with such conditions as chickenpox, deafness,blindness and even kleptomania (this little boy almost stole my pen and the notes).There was an extraordinary range of bone and joint pathology such as tuberculosis of the knee with open pulmonary disease,cretinism,untreated club feet,rickets,untreated congenital dislocation of the hip,Hunter Hurler syndrome and cubitus varus following supracondylar fractures of the humerus.Cerebral Palsy is very common,the high incidence reflecting the high rate of village birthsThere were many cases of malnutrition in the very young,and the opportunity was taken to hand out high protein food supplements with diagrammatic instructions for the mothers.
This small charity is doing its best in the presence of an ineffective state health service,to provide an orthopaedic service to the children of the poorest of the poor. An Xray costs about Rupees 50 (about 65p) and that is more than these families can spend on food for that day. There is a major crisis of funding now,the RCFC is over £10000 in the red already in this financial year,and needs help.
If you can help,or have any ideas for fund raising please contact me as soon as possible on email bunting.w@gmail.com
Any surgeon in training who wishes to see and learn how to deal with these conditions, which are rare in the UK, should also contact me as the two local surgeons in Kolkata would be delighted to teach, and I am in contact with them.
W.Bunting FRCS.
