Skillshare is carrying out research into the benefits to the UK of NHS Links with the developing world. This particular study aims to identify the impact of existing NHS links with developing countries on global health education in the UK – for health, medical and social care undergraduate and postgraduate students. The research question that guides this pilot study asks:

What, if any, is the impact of NHS Links upon global health education in the UK?

This study is undertaken by Skillshare International as a member of the Best Practice Network on Global Health, in collaboration with NHS Links (The Tropical Health and Education Trust - THET).

Your contributions will be treated confidentially and will only be used for the purpose of the study. The main data collection will be via this questionnaire, however, a small number of individual interviews will also be carried. If you are willing to be interviewed, please fill in your details at the end of the questionnaire and you may be contacted in late September or October 2006.

For the purpose of this study we understand global health education as health education with a specific focus on global health awareness and international health issues.

Links allow for the reciprocal transfer of knowledge and skills in relation to healthcare and might be formal or informal.

Formal Links – established institutional links between institutions in the UK and in developing countries.

Informal Links – links between individuals in the UK with either individuals or institutions in developing countries.

The NHS Links Network strives to put the concept of international health partnerships on the NHS agenda and to share good practice. The focus of the NHS Links Network is to support Links between NHS Trusts and health care institutions in developing countries.

Questionnaire structure:
The questionnaire has four sections;
1. Current practice,
2. Exploring the relationship between Links and global health education,
3. Identifying barriers and benefits,
4. Future plans.

Some questions might be more relevant to you than others, depending on whether you have global links and if so the stage of development. We would like to hear about what you are doing currently and also any plans you have for the future, which will provide us with an indication of the direction in which your programmes are developing.

The space within the grid will expand, however, we would be grateful for concise responses.

Please feel free to pass this questionnaire to any other person you consider to be appropriate to be involved.

Thank you for your participation.

Yours faithfully,

Dr Katy Newell-Jones
Consultant and researcher, health education

Dr. Raúl Pardíñaz-Solís,
Development Awareness Officer,
Skillshare International