An Ascot – based doctor was introduced to Princess Anne this month after 20 years of working in conjunction with the Mercy Ships and developing nations.

HRH The Princess Royal travelled to Rotherdam on March 4 where she met many skilled volunteers from the charity that deliver accessible and free medical care to those in unjust poverty and urgent need.

This was her first engagement as patron of Mercy Ships international in 2021 and commemorated the launch of the charity’s new hospital ship, The Global Mercy that was preparing to sail to Africa.

The founder of the Mercy Ships, Don Stephens and Dr Leo Cheng who is a surgeon at the London Hospital joined Dr Thompson onboard to meet HRH.

Keith has lived in North Ascot for more than 30 years, where he was a consultant anaesthestist at Wexham Park and Heatherwood, and Basingstoke later in his career.

Thompson said: “During that time I worked on board a mercy ship on 24 different occasions between 1991 and 2011.

“Since 2007 I have been organising Anaesthesia courses in Africa. My teams have now been to 15 different African countries. 43 courses so far, the last in Gambia in January 2020.”

Joanne Balaam, CEO of Mercy Ships UK said: “We’re delighted that The Princess Royal, Patron of Mercy Ships International, met key members of our crew and commemorated the launch of our purpose-built hospital ship; the Global Mercy. Our need for volunteers is now greater than ever – more than 2,600 a year to serve on our two-ship fleet."