I was fortunate enough to spend some time with our Spiritual Care Team this week who continue to carry a very large emotional and physical burden from the things they have seen and done to support others during the pandemic.
I am always in complete awe of their resilience and energy. They are inspirational in the most difficult times and their work has been vital and hugely appreciated by patients and their families but across the staff network too.
Our resident therapy dog Jasper sat with me whilst I listened to the incredibly moving reflections, memories and experiences of our chaplaincy team over the past year. They are a loved and valued part of our organisation and I want to thank them sincerely for everything they have done.
It is with this backdrop I am just so pleased to share the news that earlier this week there were no COVID patients in our critical care unit at Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital.
This was a big moment and one that, on some days, felt very far away indeed. It is testament to the hard work of all colleagues over a very long period that we have achieved it.
Just a few short weeks ago, we had almost 350 COVID patients in hospital. Colleagues from across departments were redeployed to care for them and, whilst we lost over 1,000 people to the virus, many, many more loved ones returned home to their families to recover.
Of course, we are not completely COVID-free and continue to care for infected people, including a small number of inpatients on hospital wards. Infection rates are low in our communities but the reminder to continue to follow all the guidelines in place as set out by the Government is never far away.
Remember the impact of reducing the number of people who are seriously ill in hospital with COVID is that we can move colleagues back to their normal areas of work and restore our full range of services, including elective surgery and outpatient appointments. Clearing our substantial backlogs and waiting lists is currently our top priority, but we must be mindful of everything people have been through and ensure that alongside the new thrust to treat people who have been waiting, there is time for rest and health and wellbeing support too.
That said, the spirit of our staff to continue to put people before themselves was evident this week when we had some boiler issues over at Burnley General Teaching Hospital. Whilst it was fixed, teams rallied round to support their patients, their families and each other. It was great to see and I want to give a special shout out to the endoscopy team who refused to cancel a single patient and found a way to ensure business as usual. Just brilliant!
Once again, I would just like to say thank you for everything that has been done. The hard work and dedication over the last year is appreciated and we should all be extremely proud.
I want to end by sharing the news that we have been named as a Veteran Aware Trust in recognition of our commitment to improving care for veterans, reservists, members of the armed forces and their families.
This means we actively encourage all patients and staff to let us know if they currently serve or have ever served in the UK armed forces so that we can best support their needs.
I am aware that a number of colleagues are veterans or currently serve in the Reserve Forces and there is no doubt this provides real insight to support improvements in our care.
I am extremely proud of this accreditation – one of only a small number in healthcare settings in the UK – and would like to thank everyone involved, especially Fiona Lamb, our Veterans Champion who has done an incredible amount of work to support this work!
Take care,
Kevin
Kevin McGee
Chief Executive