I am a Healthy Family Peer Support Worker, however the service was suspended at the end of March as part of the NHS response to Covid-19.
I was redeployed as a Health Care Assistant on a rehabilitation ward at our local community hospital on April 16th. I had never worked on a ward before, so everything was new to me including having to ‘don’ and ‘doff’ the PPE for close patient care.
I was looking after patients who had been admitted to us mostly due to to having a fall or a stroke out in the community. Some had tested positive for Covid-19, but were no longer contagious and some patients tested positive during their stay on the ward, most without showing any symptoms.
The staff teams were incredibly supportive and caring and I felt very safe. My grandfather had been looked after on the same ward 3 years ago and I was able to donate and set up his old iPad so that the patients who were no longer allowed visitors could communicate with their families over FaceTime.
I was on the ward for 6 weeks before I got a second call asking me to join the School Age Immunisation Service as part of the NHS reflect and recovery process. I am now going out to different locations in Derbyshire for drive through clinics; supporting the nurses with marshalling, making up vaccines and inputting data.
I was heart broken when our service was suspended, but being a BfN volunteer meant I could continue to help the families in my local area with feeding support through a virtual group every week. The support from our co-ordinator to get this up and running was hugely beneficial!
On behalf of BfN and all of the people that you have supported – thank you Hannah!