HOSPITAL staff on the frontline in the fight against Covid-19 now have wellbeing rooms where they can take a break from the pressures of the pandemic, thanks to generous donations to Bradford Hospitals’ Charity [1].
More than 30 wellbeing rooms – affectionately named ‘wobble rooms’ – and two wellbeing gardens have been introduced across Bradford Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust, which runs Bradford Royal Infirmary and St Luke’s Hospital, to support employees’ mental health during the coronavirus outbreak.
The 32 new areas allow workers to get away from busy wards and give them a chance to gather their thoughts in a calm environment.
Head of Fundraising, Hayley Collis, said: “I’m delighted that Bradford Hospitals’ Charity has been able to support the creation of 32 calm spaces throughout Bradford Teaching Hospitals to support our NHS staff.
“These are spaces where staff are able to stop, reflect and recharge and take a short break. The rooms are designed to help reduce anxiety and have information about how to access further support, including counselling, mindfulness and psychology support.
“Whilst our NHS staff are facing these unprecedented times, we will continue our support to ‘top up’ these spaces with appropriate items including comfort packs of hand-creams and wellbeing items such as mindfulness materials, too.”
Amazing support
“This has only been possible because of the amazing support from our local community – for example, Sonic Electricals in Bradford, was one of the first companies to step forward to supply electrical goods to kit out the first 10 wellbeing rooms with fridges, microwaves, coffeemakers and kettles.”
The new rooms are already proving popular with staff who might be having ‘a wobble’ and need a moment to themselves.
Matron for Trauma, Orthopaedics, Breast and Plastic Surgery, Sam Dawe, said she and her staff were “incredibly grateful” for the generous donations that had come in from around the city to fund the wellbeing room on ward 28, which saw its work change from elective orthopaedic surgery to a COVID end-of-life ward for seven weeks of the pandemic. It has since changed again to accommodate acute medical patients.
Sam said: “A huge thank you to Bradford Hospitals’ Charity and the many local people who helped give generously to creating our Ward 28 wellbeing room.
“It really has been a haven for staff and relatives alike, in that it provides somewhere for people to go if they need to take a moment for themselves or find a quiet and peaceful space to get away from the ward during what has been an incredibly stressful and emotional time.
“The charity purchased and installed a lightbox in the ceiling which reflects images of the sky and this has really helped create a peaceful and calm atmosphere in our room which has no windows or natural light.
Space to pause
“Having this quiet space to pause and reflect is making a huge difference to the wellbeing of our staff, as well as giving them an opportunity to leave messages of support on a special ‘positivity’ tree for their colleagues and patients’ families alike.”
Items funded by Bradford Hospitals’ Charity for the rooms include sofas and soft furnishings, coffee machines and kettles, microwaves, artwork and self-care items for staff.
Chief Nurse, Karen Dawber added: “Our staff face huge challenges at the current time and we’re working hard to make sure we can support both their physical and mental wellbeing.
“All of the rooms have information about how to access further support including counselling, psychology support and support in relation to traumatic incidents. One has a laptop which can be used for video calls to the pastoral support team and another is located within the hospital’s counselling service where a qualified therapist is present if needed.”
Bradford Hospitals’ Charity has funded the 32 areas thanks to money raised from its NHS Hospital Heroes Appeal, as well as grants from NHS Charities Together, of which Bradford Hospitals’ Charity is part of.
You can find out more about the Bradford Hospitals’ Charity NHS Hospital Heroes appeal at https://bradfordhospitalscharity.org/nhshospitalheroes.e rooms contain support information for NHS staff
ENDS
For further media information, please contact communications@bthft.nhs.uk or call 01274 383901
Note to Editors:
- Bradford Hospitals’ Charity
Bradford Hospitals’ Charity is one of more than 250 NHS charities based around the UK. It supports the strategic direction of Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust by funding projects which go over and above what he NHS provides.
Did you know that, together, all NHS charities give £1million every single day to the NHS!
In 2017, a new £28million wing opened at Bradford Royal Infirmary, which was part of a £75m investment to improve patient care across our hospitals. It provides world-class facilities for the elderly, children and a brand new intensive care unit. Bradford Hospitals’ Charity provided £260,000 to enable the Trust to create family friendly environments, state-of-the-art equipment and innovative distraction toys and games for young people.
With the support of Bradford Hospitals’ Charity, BTHFT was also able to provide more cots, including intensive care and high dependency cots, new family accommodation, a revamped counselling suite and a dedicated room for mothers to express milk for pre-term babies when the new neonatal unit opened in 2015.
For further information, please go to:
Twitter: @BTHFTCharity
Facebook: bradfordhospitalscharity
Instagram:bradfordhospitalscharity
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/bradfordhospitalscharity
- Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust:
Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is responsible for providing hospital services for the people of Bradford and communities across Yorkshire. We serve a core population of around 500,000 and provide specialist services for 1.1 million people.
Our 5,500 staff work over several sites, including Bradford Royal Infirmary, which provides the majority of inpatient services, and St Luke’s Hospital, which predominantly provides outpatient and rehabilitation services. We also manage local community hospitals at Westwood Park, Westbourne Green, and Eccleshill.
In early 2017, a new £28 million wing opened at Bradford Royal Infirmary, part of a £75m investment to improve patient care across our hospitals over a five-year period. It provides world-class facilities for elderly care, children’s services, a state-of-the-art intensive care unit with increased single-room provision and a retail concourse.
The new wing is a continuation of our work to improve patient experience after our new £2 million neonatal unit officially opened in January 2015. Our maternity services were recently shortlisted for the Royal College of Midwives’ (RCM) Midwifery Service of the Year Award, recognising excellence and innovation in the provision of maternity care.
In 2017, we also completed a £2m refurbishment of our Emergency Department (ED) as part of an ambitious vision to create a more efficient acute medicine service for the people of Bradford. It has been designed to provide a slicker and more efficient service, with faster senior clinical involvement at an early stage in the patient pathway.
As a teaching hospital, we are at the forefront of education and development in healthcare, and have an excellent reputation for research performance. We are one of the leading centres in conducting applied research in the country, particularly in quality and safety, elderly care and rehabilitation.
The Trust is home to the Bradford Institute for Health Research (BIHR) where researchers have led the development, validation and implementation of the award-winning Bradford Electronic Frailty Index (eFI) which helps calculate an elderly person’s risk of disability, impairment, falls and complications of chronic diseases, as well as their diminishing independence and capability. This is now being used by 98% of all GPs across the country.
Our award-winning Ophthalmology department is home to numerous worldwide clinical trials taking the lead in eye care research and we are one of only three sites in the United Kingdom to be enlisted in the Perioperative Enhanced Recovery Hip Fracture Care of Patients with Dementia (PERFECTED) study, which will investigate how the NHS can introduce better standards of care to improve outcomes for people with dementia.
[1] Bradford Hospitals’ Charity is the charitable arm of Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.