A TRAINEE clinical scientist, who works at Basingstoke hospital, has flown out to Sierra Leone to help the battle against Ebola.

Stephen Kidd will work in a laboratory operated by International Medical Corps in the town of Makeni, to help provide a quicker diagnosis for patients with Ebola.

The 35-year-old, who is in the first year of a three-year course with the National School of Health Care Science, funded by Health Education England, to become a state registered clinical scientist in microbiology, said: “The request was made by Public Health England and the NHS for frontline medical staff and laboratory teams to go to Sierra Leone, and unfortunately I wasn’t able to go in the first wave last summer because I was finishing my old job and getting ready to start this training.

“But my background is in tropical disease and a lot of my colleagues are in Africa, so I was biding my time until there was an opportunity for me.”

Stephen will be in Sierra Leone for five to six weeks, where he will test the blood taken from patients suspected of having Ebola or malaria.

He said: “I’m looking forward to the experience and using the skills I have trained for. I’m a bit nervous because we are working in an environment that’s unusual and under conditions that aren’t pleasant. But it will be nice to lend a hand and help.”

Stephen, who lives in Salisbury, has spoken to colleagues who have already been deployed to Sierra Leone, and said: “They said it’s tough but very rewarding.”

Asked what his friends and family think of him going to the frontline of the battle to combat Ebola, Stephen said: “People have seen the television reports so they will be nervous but they know we will be trained and trust our judgement. Of course there’s a risk, but we are trained very well.”

Stephen flew out last Wednesday following training.

He said: “We have experience in a lab of certain scenarios. We have training that involves replicating the exact work and scenarios of things that could go wrong, and how to counter them, and also experience of working in different situations.”

He added: “The situation isn’t good, but it’s definitely improved. There’s still a long way to go.”

Stephen has previous experience of working in challenging situations, having been seconded to help deal with the swine flu pandemic that hit the UK in 2009, and he was also involved in the response to an anthrax outbreak.

He said: “It will be rewarding because we are allowing the doctors to get a diagnosis quickly, far quicker than they would have done before we had these centres. It means people can be treated quickly.”

Stephen will be filming a video blog during his time in Sierra Leone, which The Gazette will be posting on our website.

To donate to the International Medical Corps fundraising appeal for Ebola, visit internationalmedicalcorps.org.uk/ebola.