‘Tremendous’ : Western Trust in message of solidarity to medics, nurses, care home workers and family carers

Director of Nursing and Primary and Older People’s Care, Dr Bob Brown, said that this was a very difficult time for many people living, as we all are, under the shadow of the COVID19 outbreak.

Dr Brown, in a video message, said the Trust were working ‘very, very closely with our staff and with the wider community, the voluntary sector and a range of agencies to prepare well for the anticipated surge in the number of people who will be diagnosed with the COVID19 virus’.

“All of our staff across all of our community services and all our hospital services are working very closely together to ensure that we have the right plans in place to look after people whether in hospital, in your own home, in care homes and those who provide and receive support in a range of other settings, and this is an important first step,” he said.

Paying tribute to frontline workers, Dr Brown said: “I’d like to acknowledge and pay a really strong message to our staff of gratitude for all their tremendous efforts, whether they are working in district nursing teams, social workers in the community, in hospitals, domicillary care workers, those who work in the therapy professions, this is a significant time for you personally and for all of our staff.

“Often you will be combining your huge commitment to deliver safe and effective care with your responsibilities at home as well. And I want to acknowledge that that of course will give you at this time a lot of personal concern. We are with you, we will support you and we encourage you to talk to us in the senior management team of the Trust at any time.”

He said some of the most important factors such as access to the right resources to care for people and to personal protection equipment was something the Trust was “ working on every day.”

Dr Brown also had a message for local people who are caring for a loved one at home as well as the Trust’s own home care teams.

He said: “We want you to hear from us as a Trust that we are with you, we support you and we want to encourage you to use whatever help and advice and guidance is available through the Trust or regionally to support you in these most important days ahead.

“As a carer you will be concerned about any risks regarding COVID19, and for us as a Trust we would want you to access the 111 helpline. Talk with your key worker if you have access to dfor example district nursing or a social worker or domicillary care, your GP if you have concerns for the person you are caring for or indeed yourself if you have symptoms of COVID19 such as a persistent cough or indeed a high temperature.

“Reach out for support from around you as a carer. We know in these difficult times, there will be experiences many of you as carers may have whereby any of you as carers may have where you may become unwell yourself, and that’s where advice and support is crucial and we would encourage you to have a contingency plan in place for the person you care for, such as can you access support from another family member or those around you.”

He also had a message for everyone in the community. “As a community this is such an important time. There is great concern out there. We would encourage you to look out for each other. There are a lot of coverage in local and national media, the Public HEalth Agency website and the link via this video.

“The messages are really, really clear out there: Please utilise and follow the guidance of social distancing, please wash your hands as much as possible. Those are two of the most important steps each of us can take to limit the spread of COVID19. If we work together, support each other and avail of help support and guidance in a timely way we can defeat this really challenging virus more quickly than we might think.

“I’s encourage you all to look after your own individual health and in doing so you’ll look after many other people as well.”