A SURGEON from Salisbury District Hospital is flying to India on a mission to help children with cleft lip and palate deformities.

Victoria Beale will travel to Nagpur on January 13 with the Northern Cleft Foundation, a group of doctors and nurses who volunteer to operate on people in remote parts of the world who do not have access to sophisticated hospital facilities and services.

She said: “This is my fourth cleft trip with the same organisation, and my second visit to Nagpur. Last year we operated on 68 patients, and there are already 120 patients registered for this year's cleft camp.

“I will be joined by a team of anaesthetists, nurses and three other cleft lip and palate surgeons from around the UK.

“We will run three operating theatres for up to 14 hours a day and have the offer of a fourth operating theatre in a nearby hospital to ensure that we don't have to turn any patients away.

“We will also be supported by doctors and nurses at Lata Mangeshkar Hospital and the Nagpur West branch of the Rotary Club International, who do a lot of preparatory work before we arrive.”

In the UK, surgeons such as Victoria will repair cleft lips when children are three or four months old, and cleft palates before the child is one.

In India many people cannot afford to pay for their surgery, so the team will treat older children and some adults.

The Foundation is a charity and relies heavily on fundraising to pay for the operations. To make a donation contact victoria.beale@salisbury.nhs.uk or visit www.northerncleftfoundation.co.uk.