Hello everyone. Sadly, I have to begin this blog by paying tribute to one of our former young doctors, Dr Alex Boormanwho at 27, has been killed in a car crash. He worked with us between 2014 and 2016 and greatly enjoyed the experience. I’d like to offer my sincere condolences to Dr Boorman’s family, friends and loved ones on their awful loss.
Always at this time of year, we are amazed by the generosity of the local community and the gifts that are donated to our in-patients, and this year is no exception. There are far too many to mention here but a special heartfelt thank you goes out to everyone who has worked extremely hard to collect or raise money to purchase gifts. A special mention must go to Accrington Stanley Football Club, who are the first of our local football teams to visit the children’s ward; and Tauheedul Islamic Boys High School who not only donated gifts to our children’s ward, but also gave gifts of blankets, hats, gloves and scarves for our older people’s wards. To see the pictures and details check out our Facebook page….
A fantastic time was had by many staff – domestics, porters, nurses, therapists, administrators, everybody – when they attended the traditional Christmas lunches hosted by our restaurant teams at Royal Blackburn and Burnley Teaching Hospitals. The catering staff do a fantastic job putting these events on – they always sell out – and the directors and senior managers jump at the opportunity to wait on the tables and serve the food as a small token of appreciation for our workforce.
However, this time of year isn’t just about Christmas activities; normal business does of course continue, as do the many challenges of all our jobs combined with the winter pressures. I make the same plea to you all as I always do: please, everybody do everything you can to keep flow going throughout the hospital to support our colleagues in the emergency department. Also, keep spreading the word to our community – only attend the emergency department in an emergency; think about it – where should you be going for treatment?
Normal business here at the Trust is much more than the emergency department though. For example, on Thursday this week we celebrated the opening of the new Primrose Chemotherapy Suite and East Lancashire Breast Clinicat Burnley General Teaching Hospital. Wow. What a fantastic facility we have there. The opening was a great success and very well attended. Everybody was hugely impressed by the new suites which are a perfect representation of our total commitment to high quality, patient centred service and of course, safe, personal and effective care. Well done and thank you to everyone involved in this development – Estates and Transformation teams, chemotherapy and breast care staff who had vision to create to create a haven for cancer patients and the many people, businesses and charities who fundraised to support this venture - you should be incredibly proud of what you have achieved. This will enable us to build on our already excellent reputation for cancer treatment and care and enable us to treat more patients, more quickly, closer to their home.
Well, only 10 more sleeps to go……
Until next week,
Best wishes, Kevin