We held a special event yesterday (Monday 13 July) as an opportunity for our Chief Nurse and Deputy Chief Executive, Kathryn Halford, to thank our Helping Hands team.

The team, made up of up to 90 nurses, healthcare assistants and orderlies, supported our ward staff by providing hands-on care to patients during the Covid-19 pandemic.

At the event, held in the Lavender Garden at Queen’s Hospital, members of the team were presented with a certificate of recognition by Kathryn, as well as given a goodie bag including pampering goods and a thank you cupcake.

Kathryn said: “I was really keen that we held this event to thank our Helping Hand teams as they worked incredibly hard during the peak of the pandemic, and beyond, to support our staff and patients.

"They were redeployed from areas such as our Outpatients department, which were not operating in the same way as we dealt with Covid-19. It meant they were thrown into new and unfamiliar areas and I’m proud of the way each and everyone dealt with it, ensuring our patients continued to receive high quality care when we were under extreme pressure.”

As services which were paused during the pandemic are restarting, many members of the team have now returned to their original roles. However, this innovative way of working proved so successful, we will maintain a core team to continue to provide support as we deal with the evolving pandemic.

Pictured above are members of the Helping Hands team with our Chief Nurse and Deputy Chief Executive, Kathryn Halford (back).