This week, a special mention should be given to members of our Medical Retina team who will be aiming high when they take on Scafell Pike – England’s highest mountain – as part of a Three Peaks Challenge.
A team of doctors, nurses, nurse injectors, optometrists, secretaries and administrative staff will be climbing Scafell Pike, which is a massive 978 metres above sea level, in the Lake District on Saturday 30 April, as part of a mammoth fundraising effort.
Their first trek to Snowdon, Wales, raised around £4,000 and they are hoping to hit a target of £10,000. The ophthalmology team is keen on obtaining additional equipment to improve detection of sight threatening conditions, provide early treatment to prevent blindness and improve the prognosis for vision in every patient.
They are hoping to tackle the third and final peak – Ben Nevis – in July.
Good luck to those taking part in the trek and if you would like to sponsor them, please follow the link: https://justgiving.com/campaign/savingsight
From this week, our Maternity Voices Partnership Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin (MVP) will begin sharing ‘You Said, We Did’ posts on their social media page, demonstrating how the MVP has worked in conjunction with our Maternity Services at SaTH to respond to feedback from service users, support partners and families to improve our services. The first post, shared yesterday, shows how feedback regarding support partners being more included during labour has been implemented into regular training for our Maternity team.
I am also pleased to announce that we have appointed Claire Eagleton as Matron for Inpatients and Antenatal and Jacqui Bolton as Matron for Community and Midwifery Led Units, bringing with them invaluable experience. These appointments form part of wider significant additional recruitment within our Maternity Services.
As Easter approaches, I would like to remind you that we are still seeing an unprecedented demand for our services across the whole of the health and social care system in our county and COVID-19 has not gone away.
If you are thinking about attending A&E please consider whether our emergency department is the right place to go for the care you need. A&E is for genuinely life-threatening emergencies – for example chest pains or severe bleeding or burns. If you have a life-threatening illness or injury please continue to dial 999.
But if your condition is not life-threatening, please think of the different treatment options available and visit your local pharmacy or NHS 111 online which will advise you where to go for advice or treatment.
Also, please take simple precautions to stop the spread of COVID-19 by washing your hands regularly, keeping a distance and wearing a mask in crowded settings.
Thank you all for your support and hope you have a happy Easter.