Community nurses praised for resilience during Covid times
Oban’s community nurses have been praised for their ‘resilience’ on the Covid front line, writes Kathie Griffiths.
This week Gill Fairclough, Community Nurse Team Leader, thanked her team and the former NHS colleagues who stepped back into the front line to help them during the crisis.
Nurse Fairclough said the team had faced challenges which included staff needing to be off for Covid-related reasons and made particular reference to former NHS colleagues who returned to the profession and helped sustain the community service.
‘I have to thank them, without these nurses returning we would have struggled to sustain the service,’ she told Britt Doughty-Godchaux, who has been interviewing hospital staff for The Oban Times.
Speaking about the entire team, she added: ‘The team has shown remarkable resilience and has been amazing at supporting each other and this has helped us work through our own anxieties together.
‘I’m so proud to be part of this team, I can’t speak highly enough of them. We’re great at what we do. We provide important care to those who need it most, when they need it most. For my team, I only wish community nursing was more widely recognised for the vital service that it is.’
Supporting patients and carers remotely while shielding has led the community nursing team to new ways of working to allow social distancing for both patients and staff.
The Oban team covers a vast area, stretching from Ardfern to the Bridge of Orchy, taking in Kilchrenan, Appin, Lismore, Easdale and Luing.
‘People don’t know what we do until they need us. We have a very highly skilled team that mirrors the skills of nurses and practitioners within the hospital and local practices. We’re the first point of contact for patients, carers, GPs and care homes,’ said Nurse Fairclough.
While other services had to pare back their work during Covid, the community nursing team continued to support the most vulnerable in the community.
‘We are the front line, so our work is business as usual. We are a responsive service which means due to the nature of our work we can’t put patients on a waiting list, there are no unmet needs nor can we put referrals on hold,’ she said.
The community nursing team has dealt with potential Covid cases daily since before day one of lockdown.
A big part of its work is to support those who cannot, for whatever reason, receive care in hospital or at their GP, and that includes those who are housebound as well as those who are shielding. Supporting palliative and end-of-life care is also part of the team’s remit.
The Community Nursing Team also works closely with the Community Care Team, other multi-disciplinary teams as well as with carers.
‘We work closely together to support each other. Without the whole team working together, we’d not be able to do what we do,’ said Nurse Fairclough.
Treats gifted to the team from the community and visors donated from Oban High School have also been thankfully received during the Covid outbreak. ‘It’s made such a difference for us,’ she said.