
Health staff in Hartlepool have called on people of the town to support social distancing measures after a further spike in coronavirus cases over the last week.
Hartlepool NHS staff’s social distancing appeal
Our staff in Hartlepool have signed an open letter calling on YOUR continued support with social distancing…
Community midwife Hailey Henderson:
My names Hailey Henderson and I’m a community midwife in the Hartlepool area. I just want to give a little message to all the women out there. I know it’s really difficult at the moment being pregnant and not being able to share these special times with your family and your in-laws. We’re just asking that you all remain at least two metres apart when you are meeting up with people and look after yourself and your unborn baby. We just don’t know enough about this virus. So stay safe everyone – and keep doing what you’re doing.
Community Matron Lynne Calder:
My name is Lynne Calder and I’m one of the community matrons here in Hartlepool. I work in the community and in Hartlepool Hospital. I’m just wanting to encourage the people of Hartlepool to maintain the two-metre social distancing rule, so that we can bring our numbers down after the increase we’ve recently had.
Duty Clinical Practitioner Carol Stewart:
I’m Carol Stewart, Duty Clinical Practitioner at the University Hospital of Hartlepool and as healthcare professionals we all like to give each other a hug, shake hands and give each other a cuddle. But if we can practice social distancing, which is difficult. I’m sure everybody else can as well.
Community Midwife Debbie Gardener:
Hello, my name is Debbie Gardener, I’m a community midwife in Hartlepool and Peterlee in East Durham. So I offer antenatal and postnatal care to women. We’re trying to give the message at the moment to continue to socially distance. Keep you and your baby safe. So that continues after your baby is born as well. So lots of women are taking precautions during their pregnancy and they know they’re at risk. You’ll be desperate to show off your new baby, but it’s really, really important that you continue to socially distance. Keep you and your baby safe and your other children. Do not allow visitors into your home and it’ll be a really good opportunity to think about breastfeeding because that really increases your baby’s immunity.
Occupational Therapist Rachel:
Hi, I’m Rachel, I’m an occupational therapist working from the community therapy team. We’re currently working in the care homes in Hartlepool. Looking after our most vulnerable, frail and elderly patients. So we just want to stress the importance of the social distancing measures. Just to keep our patients safe and so that they can see their families soon.
Specialist Nurse Bev Jackson:
Hello there, I’m Bev Jackson. I’m a specialist nurse at Hartlepool. I run the pregnancy advisory clinic. I just want to remind everyone how important it is that we all socially distance two-metres apart at all times. Keeping everybody safe and doing our best for the NHS.
Specialist Nurse Deborah:
Hi, my name is Deborah – I’m a specialist nurse in orthopaedics and I care for patients who have joint replacements. At this time it’s really important to maintain social distancing. So we can keep ourselves safe.
Lung cancer specialist nurse Amanda McNeany:
Hello, my name is Amanda McNeany. I’m a lung cancer specialist nurse and I’m based in Hartlepool Hospital. Our very vulnerable patients are on a very anxious time at the moment. They’ve had tests and investigations and sometimes treatment postponed. Due to the current covid pandemic. We’re very keen to keep providing a safe environment for them, so that they can come back and access the services that they need and we encourage everybody to keep on practicing social distancing measures, so we can get back to that as quickly as we possibly can.
Thank you for your continued support.
Staff from across the University Hospital of Hartlepool have made a video encouraging the local community to continue to follow the two metre rule to help stop the spread of COVID-19.
This is after staff signed an open letter last week calling on the town to continue to support measures, saying: “Now is not the time to be complacent. We know we can count on you to continue to support us.”
In a video recorded this week which can be viewed on the North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust YouTube and social media pages, staff have made renewed calls for support.
All national reported cases are measured for each area by a population of 100,000. In the latest figures from the NHS North East Observatory Service, Hartlepool’s figure has increased to 355 – significantly higher than the national average of 274.
In the video, Carol Stewart, duty clinical practitioner, says: “I’m encouraging people in Hartlepool to maintain the social distancing rule.
“As healthcare professionals, we all like to have a hug and a cuddle. If we can practice social distancing I’m sure everyone else can as well.”
Hayley Henderson, specialist lead midwife, said: “We’re asking you remain two metres apart. Look after yourself and your unborn baby – we just don’t know enough about this virus.
“So stay safe everyone and keep doing what you’re doing.”
Occupational therapist Rachel Burnham said: “I’m working in the care homes in Hartlepool looking after our most vulnerable, frail and elderly patients.
“We want to stress the importance of social distancing, to keep our patients safe and so they can see their families soon.”
Amanda McNeany, lung cancer nurse specialist, has a very important message to her patients.
She said: “Our vulnerable patients have had a very anxious time. They’ve had tests, investigations and sometimes treatments postponed.
“We want to keep providing a safe environment for them so they can come and access the services they need.
“We encourage everybody to follow social distancing measures so we can get back to that as soon as we can.”