Published on: 14 January 2026
NHS workers from across the North East are getting ready to use their skills to train healthcare workers in India.
The visit to Walawalkar Hospital in Dervan, on India’s west coast, will be the 21st mission for the SVJC UK Trust Charity which funds vital education for local healthcare staff and carries out vital procedures for people in one of the poorest areas of India.
The mission will include colleagues from South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust (STSFT).
The group of 18 NHS workers will travel to the country later this month. The charity is led by STSFT consultant anaesthetist Dr Sanjay Deshpande and a team of trustees, Shelley Quantrill, Dr Lance Cope, Eleanor Freeman, John Wall and Mr Rajeev Subhedar.
The group will include NHS staff from neighbouring Trusts in the region, as well as supporters of the charity who work in Surrey. The team includes an orthopaedic surgeon, transplant surgeon, ophthalmologist, anaesthetists, trainee doctors, a dentist, operating department practitioners and nurses.
They will spend a week delivering treatment, lectures and education sessions to staff at the hospital. It is based in Dr Deshpande’s home country.
One of the SVJC charity supporters as they helped teach life-saving skills to staff at the Walawalkar Hospital last year
SVJC’s mission is to help people in that area of India through focussing into their mission: health for all, education for all and empowerment of the individual. It also provides vital medical advice for those who need it.
In return, NHS colleagues who travel to Dervan develop their careers by sharing their knowledge and see how a healthcare system in another country is run.
Dr Deshpande said:
"This year our priority once again will be to educate. We will be there to train and share our expertise. There will be a lot of lectures, including a life support course.
"I’ll be doing a lot of work around human factors, so how they make a difference to clinical decisions, how important it is to communicate and how our emotions play a part in our work.
"All of those on the trip will be volunteering their own time and I want to thank them, and our trustees, for everything they do."
To find out more about the SVJC Trust visit www.svjctrust.co.uk
NHS colleagues with staff from Walawalkar Hospital in Dervan, which is on India’s west coast, pictured during their visit last year.
