NHS staff’s dedication
FROM the sister turning her ward into a ‘hotel’ for colleagues who couldn’t get home for the night to the district nurses walking through blizzards to get to their elderly patients, these are the incredible stories of our region’s NHS staff going the extra mile this week.
Health workers have been going above and beyond to make sure their patients are safe and getting the best treatment possible.
The Newcastle Hospitals NHS trust provided accommodation in its two main sites – the Royal Victoria Infirmary and the Freeman Hospital – to give more than 60 members of staff who couldn’t get home a place to stay for the night.
The trust’s chaplaincy team delivered care packages donated the by Mothers’ Union to staff, giving them toothpaste, shampoo and shower gel.
Senior sister on Ward 2B at the Great North Children’s Hospital Allyson Turnbull went out of her way to make the clinical ward feel more like a hotel – even bringing one of the paediatric respiratory consultants breakfast in bed.
She said: “When you’ve had a long shift you really just want to get home so we’ve tried to make it as pleasant as possible for people.
“Because we’re a day unit we have free beds overnight so we were glad to help.”
Meanwhile the community team have been driving across Newcastle in the snow to deliver care to the most elderly and vulnerable patients.
Katharine Nicholson, district nurse coordinator, said: “Our patients often live alone and they’re completely reliant on us.
“It has been challenging; the main roads are clear, but on the estates where we are visiting people they’re not, so the nurses are walking quite long distances when it’s wet and windy.
“We’ve had some staff going to get food shopping and supplies for people with no relatives to buy them milk and things.”
Domestic assistants Gemma Tait and Natalie Batey are two of the hotel services team at the trust who have pulled out the stops so the wards and departments remain spotlessly clean during the adverse weather conditions. The pair have been staying behind for three hours after the official end of their shift until late-shift colleagues arrived.
One critical care staff nurse, Louise Carlton, was taken to the Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital in Cramlington by the fire service yesterday and is planning to stay over the weekend, working an extra shift tomorrow.