Dr Matee Rajput, one of the UKs leading hair transplant surgeon and the co-founder of the Samr Trust, details a week his life visiting Pakistan where the charity is working on its most ambitious project to date.


Sunday

I was dropped off to Heathrow Airport to catch a flight to Pakistan. Travelled to Pakistan to formally commence the opening of the SAMR Trust Hospital. A charity hospital developed by our organisation that provides medical care to some of the poorest areas of Pakistan, while utilising any profits from paying patients to fund the development of more facilities. This initiative was started by my late father, it was his dream to establish a clinic that provided free care to those unable to pay for it, especially those living in rural areas like the one where he grew up. Exciting but busy week ahead for me as I visit the place of my birth and early childhood. Arrived early at Heathrow, grabbed a quick bite and had an interchange at Doha International Airport. A long day of travel.

Monday

Landed in Pakistan after a long flight. Incredibly foggy in Northern Pakistan. Bitter cold from the Himalayan mountains makes the early months of the year a cold and foggy time to visit. Grateful to arrive safe and sound despite hazardous conditions. Jet-lagged and exhausted. Had some rest and had a late northern Punjabi brunch with family. Followed by saying hello to countless of cousins and family friends and an early-ish night. Sialkot lies in the North-eastern region of Punjab, on the border of Kashmir. Traditional Northern Punjabi brunch of puff pastry, chickpeas, pickles, lentils and halva (desert). One of my favourite dishes any day of the year.

Tuesday

Hospital preparations, final checks of the main departments to officially open the hospital the following day. General physicians, general surgery, gynaecology, nursing, midwifery, pharmacy and clinical laboratory are all set to launch so it’s a huge operation with lots of moving parts. I had an extended meeting with the SAMR Trust Hospital management team to ensure all was going ahead as planned and to finalise any last-minute changes ahead of tomorrow’s opening ceremony. Feeling very excited that we’ve finally reached this stage, it’s taken a long time to get here and we as an organisation are all extremely proud of everyone’s efforts.

Wednesday

Hospital opening ceremony day. This was a long day with a lot of introductions and meeting the many patients visiting us to seek medical care. After the ceremony, I spent the day analysing bloods of our first day of patients, I like to get as involved as possible in supporting the hospital on my visits. Some of our medical team volunteer their time to give back to the community, so I always pitch in where needed to support the staff.


Thursday

Today was mainly media duties. My team held a press day with lots of local and national media about the hospital opening. There aren’t many charity hospitals in the country providing care and facilities at international standards like we are, so it is of great interest to the county’s major news and media outlets. To our knowledge, the SAMR Trust Hospital is the only hospital in our region that is a non-profit hospital with facilities matching those found in the private sector. Online news channels, print media, radio and social media influencers all took interest in the SAMR trust Hospital and our aims. Amongst others, the team secured coverage on the Urdu Point Channel which has over 8.5 million subscribers.

Friday

We hosted a celebratory communal dinner. This entire project has taken years of development, from sourcing and purchasing the land, to the planning and construction of the hospital, to the management team and internal systems of operation – and all of the high tech equipment needed to operate successfully. This takes a huge amount of time and requires a big team to provide support. Food for the communal dinner gets prepared in SAMR Trust Garden Park. This park was opened by my father before he passed away in 2021. Feast to celebrate the opening of the hospital with the elders in our community and our family. It’s my strong belief that with the well-wishes and prayers of the elders, everything is more blessed and more enjoyable.

Saturday

I had planned to visit the northern Himalayan areas with my cousins. They call this region paradise on earth, a place Alexander the Great called his Shangri-La and many great men have sought solitude here, to us it is home. Due to the harsh weather conditions, we were unable to visit the snow-capped roof of the world where some of the highest mountains of the world sit. Hoping to visit again in my next trip. Instead, this time I went to visit some of the villages around where my mum grew up to explore what the SAMR Trust Hospital can do to support this remote region in the months and years to come.

Sunday

Flight back to Heathrow airport. Long flight via Jeddah on Saudi Airlines taking over 10 hours. Feeling grateful for some inflight entertainment and warm food. Arrived back in London, at Heathrow. Very appreciative of the self-scanning gates with no queues, so a quick exit to head back home for some rest before I’m back to work at KSL Clinic on Monday for another full day of surgeries.


The trust is an organisation founded in 2011 by Rajput and his brothers, with the sole purpose of providing humanitarian aid in some of the poorest and most deprived areas of the world.

The Samr Trust is currently working on its most ambitious project to-date, a full-scale hospital in Punjab, Pakistan.

The charity has worked across the entire project from purchasing the land, to development and construction, to now funding and operating the hospital with a team of employees and volunteers. The hospital is expected to serve a minimum of 40,000 locals, many of which will have never received this level of healthcare.

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