NHS Tayside staff received a surprise Burns video message of thanks from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on yesterday thanking them for their incredible work since the start of the pandemic.
The message was played to a multi-disciplinary COVID-19 response team who work in the dedicated COVID-19 Intensive Care (ICU) and High Dependency (HDU) Units at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee.
Caring for patients in ICU and HDU involves a whole team approach and twelve staff including medical and nursing staff, as well as a radiographer, a physiotherapist, a domestic assistant and a renal technologist were treated to a traditional Burns celebration lunch.
The delicious three course lunch of haggis, neeps and tatties, raspberry cranachan trifle followed by tea, coffee and shortbread was provided courtesy of Tayside Health Fund and NHS Charities Together, of which The Duke and Duchess are Patrons.
Chief Executive Grant Archibald welcomed everyone to the lunch and took the opportunity to pass on his heartfelt thanks and that of the Board saying, “Our staff have now been at the frontline in our response to COVID-19 for more than 300 days and their dedication has been truly awe-inspiring. It means so much to all of our teams across Angus, Dundee and Perth & Kinross to receive this special message of appreciation today which underlines the ongoing, extraordinary efforts of Team Tayside.”
Over the past three weeks, the COVID-19 dedicated wards, Intensive Care Unit and High Dependency Unit have seen unprecedented numbers of patients with COVID-19, with the number of people being cared for in hospital increasing nearly four times over.
Dr Susie Chapman, Intensive Care Registrar attended the lunch and shared what it meant to her, “I was delighted to be asked to represent our incredible ICU team to receive this wonderful gesture of support from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. I could not be more proud to be part of such a hardworking, dedicated and caring team.”
Senior staff nurse Leila Harper who works in HDU added, “I was surprised and really pleased to be part of this event and it was a welcome break from my day-to-day work. After a very long year it is really nice that our teams have been recognised for their hard work by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and NHS Charities Together. I thoroughly enjoyed my Burns lunch.”
Lorna Birse-Stewart, Chair of Tayside NHS Board, said, “On behalf of NHS Tayside and Tayside Health Fund I would like to thank The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge for this wonderful gesture. It provides an opportunity for us to recognise some of the patient-facing and support staff across health and social care in Tayside who have demonstrated extraordinary commitment during these most challenging times.”
The Burns lunch would not have been possible without the support from NHS Tayside’s Catering Services who worked really hard to ensure the lunch was such a fantastic success.
Adding to the celebrations were Royal Warrant Holders Valvona & Crolla and Fisher and Donaldson who kindly donated Burns Biscuits and gift boxes to NHS Tayside staff to thank them for all they have been doing.
Later this week Tayside Health Fund (THF) will be sharing 200 House of Bruar treat boxes with staff.
The event was also kindly supported by the High School of Dundee who provided a Burns video of pupils Emily Hough and Andrew Lothian. Emily recited The Selkirk Grace and Andrew played a stirring tune on the bagpipes. Both were very much enjoyed by staff and perfectly set the scene for the Burns lunch.