Following the introduction of visiting restrictions, which are in place at our three hospital sites due to the Covid-19 pandemic, our ward teams noticed that patients felt isolated from their loved ones and we explored ways to keep them in touch. The Trust already had a few electronic devices available but required more to ensure no patients who requested them missed out, particularly those on End of Life Care, as we know this is an anxious time for families. This will never replace face to face contact, but during these challenging times, the video calls offer comfort and lift the spirits of our patients and our colleagues who want to do all they can to support families.
Cindy Storer, Acting Deputy Director of Nursing, Midwifery and AHPs, said: “Thank you to Amazon for this very generous donation. This is an incredibly worrying time for families whose loved ones are in hospital and keeping them connected has such a positive impact for patients, families and our colleagues. We are so grateful for the support and generosity of our local communities who have come together to support their local NHS.”
Adam Banks, Site Leader at Amazon’s Doncaster iPort fulfilment centre, said: “We wanted to show our support to our local NHS Trust during these challenging times and asked how we could best support patients and staff. The End of Life Care team were looking at ways to keep patients and families connected but didn’t have enough devices for all the wards across their three sites. We provided 15 Amazon Fire Tablets and we are delighted to be able to do this for our local communities.”
The team at Amazon also sent with their delivery 3000 chocolate bars which were thoroughly enjoyed by our teams!
No donation is too big or small, the support and generosity of the general public is making a huge difference to our colleagues and patients during these challenging times. For more information on how to donate to the Trust including our Just Giving details, please visit: https://www.dbth.nhs.uk/charity/ or email dbth.comms@nhs.net.
To keep up to date with our visiting guidelines, go to: https://www.dbth.nhs.uk/patients-visitors/