Royal salute from William to NHS workers

PRINCE William has paid tribute to the efforts of the NHS and its workers during the pandemic, describing it as ‘probably the most admired organisation around’.

The Duke of Cambridge’s words of praise came during a call with a consultant working in a Belfast hospital.

He told Dr Thelma Craig, a respiratory consultant at the Mater Hospital, last month: ‘The NHS has gone from already being much loved to probably the most admired organisation around. Thank you so much for all your hard work.’

Since the start of the year William, who is known as the Earl of Strathearn in Scotland, has spoken to more than 300 NHS staff and volunteers across the UK.

They include Jenny Manson, a community children’s nurse from Kirkcudbright who formed a bubble with the family of a terminally ill girl to protect them from Covid-19 last summer.

She told William how she had cared for nine-year-old Holly Clarke at her home so that her parents Richard and Stevie, twin sister Becca and older sister Emily could spend precious months with her before her death in October. The family nominated her in the Nurse of Year category of the Scottish Health Awards, an honour she received late last year.

The 54-year-old single mother, who has 16-year-old twin daughters, worked at the family’s home from May last year to protect them from the risk of catching the virus.

Speaking about her call with Prince William, she said: ‘I’m just a little nurse who works in Scotland but for the duke to actually want to take time to talk to me, it felt I was so privileged.

‘I felt like my job and the role of the NHS was really being acknowledged. He was unbelievably genuine and sincere.’ She added: ‘He said as a father it made him feel quite emotional, the conversation we were having. He talked to me about when he was working as a helicopter pilot and how when he went to a child who had had a trauma or an accident that used to be really sad.

‘He spoke about that a lot and he was just so sincere.’

Miss Manson went on: ‘He was really interested to know how I managed that situation and I told him that what I did was that I became part of that family’s bubble.

‘I worked with them constantly really, so it stopped other professionals having to go into the house, which the family really, really appreciated.’