Urolink's ethos is to provide help in setting up self-sustaining training centres in low, or low-middle, income countries but has explored many other centres:

• LINKS - encouraging the establishment of links between individual departments & organisations
• VISITS - encouraging & supporting professional visits to work with colleagues overseas
• TRAINING
  • supporting appropriate urological training of surgeons in their home countries;
  • helping UK trainees experience surgery in low or middle-income countries (LMICs)
• EQUIPMENT - assisting with the provision of hardcopy and online educative material, surgical equipment and disposibles, as well as IT support where needed
• ADVICE
  • providing remote mentoring to link centres;
  • advising BAUS Council on matters relating to urology in LMICs;
  • advising urological associations abroad about training, professional development & examinations

Urolink believes that all the supported units in sub-Saharan Africa (and smaller units elsewhere) should be able to achieve the following when presented with one of the listed urological conditions:

• RETENTION OF URINE - early relief by urethral or suprapubic catheter; developing endoscopic prostate surgery.
• HAEMATURIA - education about pathology and the importance of early diagnostic investigation, especially in areas with endemic schistosomiasis.
• URINARY STONES - promotion of endoscopic m,anagement techniques such as URS and PCNL.
• URETHRAL STRICTURES - treatment by bouginage or visual urethrotomy, then self-catheterisation.
• URETHRAL TRAUMA
  • safe initial management followed by referral for definitive treatment; 
  • training in urethroplasty, especially in the surgical treatment of pelvic fracture strictures.
• FEMALE URINARY INCONTINENCE
  • increasing awareness of the consequences of urinary incontinence in women;
  • early surgical repair of vesico-vaginal fistula.    
• MALE CIRCUMCISION - safe techniques.
• PENILE CANCER - early diagnosis & treatment.
• PROSTATE CANCER - enable early diagnosis and facilitate management.

Global Code of Conduct

Urolink is a Committee of the British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS) which aims to encourage and support the establishment of links with individual departments and organisations in low or middle-income countries (LMICs) and to facilitate professional visits to work with colleagues in resource-poor settings.   

Urolink's core values

At Urolink, everything we do is guided by our core values:

• Respect - we treat everyone with dignity and respect, and champion the rights and contributions of all to chieve a fairer world;
• Accountability - we are accountable to those whose lives we hope to help, to those we work with and to those who support us;
• Courage - we are bold and inspoiring in our actions & words in promoting global urological care and education;
• Collaboration - we work with others to maximise our impact, respecting diversity and difference in the opursuit of common goals;
• Innovation - we are creative & agile, always learning and prepared to take risks to accelerate change;
• Integrity - we act with honesty & conviction, and our actiona are consistent with openness, equaklity & human rights.

Professional values

Urolink expects professional conduct from individual’s working with it according to the General Medical Council’s ‘Good Medical Practice¹’. Working on behalf of Urolink often means holding a position of power and trust in environments where patients are more vulnerable and we expect individual’s representing Urolink to uphold the professional standards expected in UK practice.

The duties of a doctor registered with the GMC

Patients must be able to trust doctors with their lives and health. To justify that trust you must show respect for human life and make sure your practice meets the standards expected of you in four domains: 

• Knowledge, skills & performance
  • make the care of your patient your first concern
  • provide a good standard of practice & care
  • keep your professional knowledge & skills up-to-date
  • recognise & work within the limits of your competence
• Safety & quality
  • take prompt action if you think that patient safety, dignity or comfort is being compromised
  • protect & promote the health of patients & the public
• Communication, partnership & teamwork
  • treat patients as individuals & respect their dignity
  • treat patients politely & considerately
  • respect patients' rights to confidentiality
  • work in partnership with patients
  • listen to & respond to their concerns & preferences
  • give patients the information they want or need in a way they can understand
  • respect patients' right to reach decisions with you about their treatment & care
  • support patients in caring for themselves to improve & maintan their health
  • work with colleagues in the ways that best serve patients' interests
• Maintaining trust
  • be honest & open, and act with integrity
  • never discriminate unfairly against patients or colleagues
  • never abuse you patients' trust in you, or the public's trust in the profession

You are personally accountable for your professional practice and must always be prepared to justify your decisions and actions.

Urolink’s experience of medical environments in LMICs has suggested that UK practitioners working abroad should be reminded about the following four areas of good practice. It considers these of particular relevance to working in resource-poor environments: 

• Safeguarding - adults & children should all be considered vulnerable and have safe care appropriate to, and available in, their clinical setting;
• Equality - patients & colleagues should be treated fairly, with respect, irrespective of personal beliefs or biases;
• Confidentiality - patient information should be treated confidentially, within the confines of local systems; patient images should not be take or used without appropriate consent, and should not be disseminated via social media without permission; and
• Probity - you must be honest in all financial & commercial dealings; you must not ask for, or accept, any inducement that affect patient care.  

References

1. Good Medical Practice (2013) GMC, London
2. Our safeguarding policy (2019) GMC, London
3. Protecting children and young people. The responsibilities of all doctors  (2013) GMC, London
4. Personal beliefs and medical practice (2013) GMC, London
5. Confidentiality: good practice in handling patient information (2017) GMC, London
6. Making and using visual and audio recordings of patients (2011) GMC, London
7. Doctors use of social media content (2013) GMC, London
8. Financial and commercial arrangements and conflicts of interest (2013) GMC, London

Download a full copy of the Code of Conduct 2023

1996

Lester Eshleman (pictured with Griff Fellows), the founder of the Urology Institute at the Kilamanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC), Moshi, Tanzania was awarded the prestigious BAUS St Paul’s Medal. This medal, instituted by Mr Richard Turner Warwick, is awarded, each year to a distinguished colleague from overseas whose contributions to the Association in particular, and to UK urology in general, it wishes to honour.

Lester was a Mennonite missionary who trained as a surgeon, and then in urology, as the need became apparent. His contribution to Tanzanian urology is remembered biennially with a clinical meeting that continues to be held in his name; he also wrote a Textbook of Urology and Nephrology in Africa, the foreword to which, written by Neville Harrison, can be accessed here.

2007

Christine Evans was awarded The BAUS St Peter’s Medal for her tireless work in forming links with multiple centres across the developing world, and for developing urological and transplantation services there. The Citation for Christine, given by Steve Payne, can be viewed here.

2019

Ru MacDonagh (pictured receiving the award from BAUS President, Duncan Summerton) was awarded the BAUS St Peter’s Medal. Ru’s efforts in developing a comprehensive medical - but especially obstetric - service in Zanzibar (HIPZ) were recognised by the award of this prestigious medal. The citation for Ru, given by John McGrath, can be viewed here.
 

Chandra Shekhar Biyani receives the Zenith Healthcare Special Recognition Award for his work in consolidating educational activities across a broad swathe of African countries.

2023

Chandra Shekhar Biyani (pictured) receives the BAUS John Anderson medal for 2023 for his inspirational work with the Bootcamp concept.  Shekhar, who has a Masters in simulation training, evolved the model so that is has become established, and is now delivered locally, at a number of sites across Africa. Shekhar also assisted in the delivery of virtual simulated training courses during the 2020/21 Covid 19 pandemic, when face-to-face instruction had been logistically impossible. 

2023

Chandra Shekhar Biyani was awarded the British Empire Medal in the King's 2023 New Year's Honours list for his services to Medical Education. Shekhar's ST3 Bootcamps, a pinnacle of success in post-graduate education for the specialty and something emulated by other specialties, has transported that concept across Urolink's LIC domain. It is now running in a self-sustaining way in a number of centres in sub-Saharan Africa.

2024

Suzie Venn was awarded the BAUS John Anderson medal for 2024 for her commitment to the provision of education in Global Urology. Suzie has had a longstanding association with a number of centres in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly those at KCMC in Moshi Tanzania and Kamuzu Central Hospital in Lilongwe Malawi.

Read Suzie's award biography

Donations from individuals are always gratefully received, as are any legacies or bequests to help Urolink in its work. Urolink's funds are held within the charitable status of the British Association of Urological Surgeons Ltd and are distributed by the agreement of the committee at its biannual meetings.

To become a sponsor of Urolink, or to make a donation, please email Hannah Doyle.

Should you have surplus or out-of-date equipment that may be of use in LMICs, then please email Shekhar Biyani, the Urolink equipment lead. Urolink has evolved a major link for the collection and out-of-country transport of used or out-of-date equipment with the Medi Tech Trust and their Medigive Initiative. Medi Tech Trust received the Queen's Award for Voluntary Services last year and was given special recognition for its achievements in disseminating equipment in the 2022 Zenith Global Health awards (pictured right).

Urolink is also very grateful to the following organisations and companies who have sponsored us or supported specific Urolink activities over the years:

• AstraZeneca, BAUS, British Journal of Uroklogy International (BJUI), Boston Scientific & The Urology Foundation (TUF) - for their support for all Urolink activities, sponsorship of specific link centres and encouragement of trainee participation, and help with online developments;
• Olympus KeyMed & Karl Storz - for donation of equioment
• BARD, BJUI, Karl Storz, Newson Health, BAUS Section of Trainees (BSoT, formerly SURG), TUF & Yamanouchi - for donation of specific travel prizes and awards

In this short section we celebrate those whose lives have impacted significantly on Urolink. We thank them for their contribution.

Kien Alfred Mteta 1957 - 2023
Father of KCMC, and beloved trainer of so many embryo urologists in East Africa

It was with the greatest sadness, and regret, that we heard of the sudden, and unexpected, death of Professor Kien Alfred Mteta on Wednesday 22 November 2023. Prof Mteta was formerly Head of department at the COSECSA/ASEA Institute of Urology at the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) in Moshi Tanzania and Dean of the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical College.

Alfred was the first Urological Surgical Consultant to join Dr Lester Eshleman at KCMC. Together with his colleagues Drs Jasper Mwambo and Frank Bright, Alfred was a mentor to many of the hundreds of trainees who came from all parts of East Africa to train in urology at the Institute. Alfred had a very long partnership with BAUS and Urolink, especially during the 2005 building programme of the Urology Unit at KCMC, and was a frequent visitor to the BAUS Annual Meeting.

Fortunately, Suzie Venn, David Dickerson and Ram Subramanuiam were able to join the service of remembrance in Alfred's honour and to pay their respect in person. Our sincerest condolences were sent to his family and colleagues, knowing that his wise counsel, support and friendship will be greatly missed in Tanzania, and beyond.

Phil Thomas 1958 – 2022
Father, husband, surgeon and friend to many

Sadly, Phil passed away, way ahead of his time at the age of 63, on 12 May 2022. 

Phil was a Consultant in Brighton and followed Neville Harrison's example in becoming actively involved in urology in East Africa. He travelled extensively to teach urethroplasty, one of the big needs in developing low income countries, and became a regular feature of the urological landscape in Tanzania.

At Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre in Moshi, he forged strong relationships with Alfred Mteta and Jasper Mwambo and never missed one of the Lester Eshleman workshops in over 30 years. His last visit to KCMC was just before the pandemic, in 2019 when, characteristically, he led a multi-faceted team including two trainees to provide a whole suite of seminar-based learning. This prefaced some challenging surgery of which Phil was always in the midst.

His dedication to the dissemination of urological knowledge was, undoubtably, something in which he took great pride, and from which a myriad of African trainees benefited.  

Phil was an exemplar of Urolink's founding principles, and is survived by his wife Caryl and his three children.

A fuil obituary, written by Suzie Venn and his son, Peter, was published in Trends in Urology & Mens Health on 15 November 2022,

View the full obituary by Suzie & Peter