A CONSULTANT at the Great Western Hospital and his anaesthetist colleagues have been awarded a prestigious award for their charity work in Nepal.

Angus Waddell, a consultant ear nose and throat surgeon and GWH anaesthetists Julian Stone and Mike Entwistle, volunteer for the Britain Nepal Otology Service, which is dedicated to the prevention and treatment of deafness in Nepal. The charity’s work has been awarded the British Medical Journal Group Award, the Karen Woo Surgical Team Of The Year Award.

The team help to run ear camps in Nepalgunj, in Nepal. The camps have been running since 1989 to deal with ear disease, the largest single disability in Nepal.

Mr Waddell said: “It is nice to have recognition for the work of BRINOS and for those involved in the ear camps. We all volunteer and cover our own expenses for the trips. “Hearing loss is common in Nepal. It is a poor country with a lot of respiratory infections, chest infections, holes in ear drums and ear discharge. “It is a different experience to working in a UK hospital and it is great to be able to help people suffering from ear disease and assist Nepalese ENT surgeons in providing expert treatment.

“Last November was the charity’s 49th ear camp. Since the charity started there have been over 4,500 major ear operations carried out in Nepal. The camps involve intensive surgery and we can perform up to 17 ear operations in a day, 120 operations per week. At GWH we perform 120 ear operations in a year.

“The ear camps last nine days and we work from 8am to 8pm. We do have one day off where we all go for a picnic with the Nepali people.”

Angus attended the ceremony earlier this month in London along with Tikajit Gurung, the Operating Department Practitioner (British Army), Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust and John Skipper, Consultant ENT Surgeon at Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust.

To find out more about BRINOS visit www.brinos.org.uk.