Letter from PHE

Duncan Selbie
Chief Executive
Wellington House
133 – 155 Waterloo Road
London SE1 8UG
Tel: 020 7654 8090
www.gov.uk/phe
19 November 2014
Dear IANPHI members,
Volunteers to Staff UK Diagnostic Laboratories
As you may be aware, the UK is leading on the response to the outbreak of Ebola Virus
Disease (EVD) in Sierra Leone. As part of the UK response, Public Health England
(PHE) is operating three UK funded diagnostic laboratories in Sierra Leone. The
laboratories are essential in helping to speed up the time taken to identify, isolate and
treat infected patients, or release from isolation those that test negative. They are
funded by the Department for International Development (DFID) and managed by PHE.
The laboratories provide critical support for the new UK Ebola Treatment Centres and
are helping to stop the spread of Ebola across the country.
PHE and other UK based organisations are providing volunteers, however, we urgently
need more volunteers to give their expertise, time and commitment to help staff and
deliver the vital work of the diagnostics laboratories, over the short, medium and longer
term.
There is a critical need to ensure sufficient volunteers over the 2014 Christmas
and New Year Period.
The first wave of volunteer laboratory staff is already operating at the Kerry Town
Laboratory. Further volunteers are required to staff the other two laboratories (in Port
Loko and Makeni districts) and to provide subsequent replacement teams. We hope
that the international public health community will rise to the global humanitarian
challenge and volunteer the much needed technical expertise essential for fighting
Ebola in Sierra Leone.
We are looking for the following capabilities for the laboratories:
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All levels of laboratory technicians and scientists, with bench experience in
microbiology or virology, and competent at working in multidisciplinary teams
Experienced biomedical scientists
Laboratory team leaders, with track record of laboratory management and
organisational skills
General laboratory technicians and scientists are encouraged to volunteer.
Training and Deployment
Volunteers will typically undergo a pre-deployment process which will include vetting of
competencies, full laboratory training of all equipment and assays (one week in the UK),
and pre-travel vaccinations and medication such as yellow fever and malaria.
Volunteers will typically be deployed for a four to six week period.
Each laboratory team has 16 members organised into two shifts of eight hours each,
covering a total of 16 hours a day. The figures allow for regular days off for team
members. Technical support and 24 hour help is available through the PHE Rare &
Imported Pathogens Laboratory (RIPL).
An appropriate agreement will be put in place between volunteers and the relevant
international nongovernmental organisation which will provide healthcare in country,
accommodation and subsistence, transport and medical evacuation if required.
Registration
Volunteers should register their interest by email to [email protected].
Potential volunteers will be sent an information pack and application form by PHE.
I hope this opportunity to bring their skills to bear in tackling a humanitarian disaster,
appropriately supported by senior experienced staff on the ground, will spark interest
and offers to help from your staff.
Thank you for your consideration and support for this initiative.
With best wishes
Yours sincerely
Duncan Selbie
Chief Executive