“As we celebrate International Nurses’ Day I want to reflect on the stresses of the last years and the response of my nursing teams to the pandemic.”

“Last April (2020) we approached our gynae nurses both on ward 23 and outpatients to support the trust’s response to the increasing demand of sick patients requiring nursing support. They courageously supported ward 4 and some supported the Critical Care Unit; this despite their own fears and concerns for themselves and their loved ones.

“We then called on them to reconfigure our ward to support separate pathways (covid and non-covid) in support of the recovery programme.

With the amalgamation of  our gynae assessment unit and our gynae ward, our nurses focused on providing the best care for our gynae and early pregnancy patients. Our gynae outpatient team supported medical colleagues with the increased activity in the recovery phase.

“We then had the second wave and again our gynae nurses were called to support both medical wards and critical care. Most volunteered uncomplaining and willing to do the best for the patients of Walsall. Many saw death and dying more than they have seen before and yet they supported – thinking of those patients who were alone without their relatives to hold their hand!

Their courage makes me proud to lead the team.

“Our team in Sexual Health continued to support the people of Walsall, adapting the way it ran services and being innovative with its Triage service to ensure we met the needs of our local community.

Through the pandemic they supported women in the maternity service by providing contraceptive care and advice on the postnatal wards at a time when many GP surgeries were unable to provide a comprehensive service.

The Sexual Health team also supported our Occupational Health team at a time when its service required support and despite this they continue to support the people of Walsall.

You all make me proud!

“Of course we would not have a service without the CSWs, ward clerks, Doctors and our operational teams who make it possible for us to do our job and this is a great opportunity to say thank you to all of them as well! I think we are really fortunate to be surrounded by a great team!

As we enter into the Recovery phase ‘lest we forget’, the foot soldiers/ warriors of this pandemic our Nurses! I am proud to be a nurse and I am proud to lead you all as a team of nurses!

SO PROUD OF YOU ALL AND YOUR CONRIBUTION TO WALSALL!”