Where it all began
In 2001 a team of doctors and nurses, including Dr. Tetursamy, Dr. Michael Tremlett, Miss. Audrey Platt, Michael Ward and Carol Ward, visited Mysore Mission Hospital in India to provide assistance to their anaesthetic department.
Whilst visiting a village in the area, the team noticed that a significant number of children had unrepaired cleft defects. With their parents too poor to access medical help, they were condemned to a life lived in the shadow of their facial deformities.
Northern Cleft Foundation was founded later that year by Dr. George Teturswamy, a consultant anaesthetist, to provide children and some adults with much needed free operations.
At their first outreach in Mysore, their core team of dedicated experts operated on 32 children.
Where we are today
From small beginnings the foundation has grown considerably. We now we have a team of eight consultant cleft surgeons and ten consultant anaesthetists working with us, drawn from hospitals across Great Britain.
Numerous outreaches have now been run in Mysore, Hyderabad, Kerala and Nagpur and over 1500 children and adults have been helped to date.
Where we are going
A Masterclass of Cleft Repair was organised in September 2014. It was led by Professor Gosla Reddy – a leading authority in cleft correction ( from Hyderabad ) and consultant members of the NCF surgical and anaesthetic team. The course was open to international participants wishing to learn surgical techniques and theory.
Our dream is that the NCF will be able to facilitate a comprehensive cleft service that will serve the state of Maharastra. It is hoped that a local medical professionals, interested in cleft work, will lead the service and work in conjunction with the charity.