Happy 73^rd birthday to the NHS!

On 5^th July 1948 the National Health Service was born and thus was free healthcare for all.  Our appreciation for the NHS has never faltered but when the UK was overcome by the global Coronavirus pandemic everyone was reminded at how vital this service and all those who work for it are.

Panic and fear gripped the nation as we all listened to the daily briefings waiting to hear the latest death toll from this horrendous virus.  Panic buying lead to shortages of foods and household items; most bizarrely it seemed to be toilet roll everyone wanted to stock up on.  Fake news and conspiracy theories infecting every social media platform, whilst celebrities made TikToks teaching us how to wash our hands.  The roads were empty and Zoom was heaving, parents were suddenly having to take on the responsibility of home schooling and children no longer able to play with friends.  Let us not forget how the vulnerable spent months isolated and care homes were left to fend for themselves with a lack of testing and PPE made available to them.

However, in the midst of all this chaos and horror an army of heroes arose.  NHS doctors, nurses and paramedics went to war with the virus to save as many people as they could.  Key workers kept our shops stocked and essential services running.  The social care industry, like our very own team continued to support those who needed it in the safest way possible helping to keep the pressure off the NHS fighting on the frontline.  The people behind the scenes were also paramount to the fight, cleaning contractors and refuse collectors keeping people safe, IT support keeping everything online and helping us to find new ways of working.  The truth is, without all of these critical and key workers many more lives would have been lost.

Today is the inaugural NHS, Social Care and Frontline Workers’ Day, which is a chance to show our appreciation and gratitude to these heroes whilst remembering those who lost their lives to Coronavirus.  There are many events and activities taking part across the nation and you can find the details of this here https://www.nhsfrontlineday.org/programme/

We would like to say thank you to all NHS, social care, frontline workers and support teams, without you this past 13 months would have been unimaginable.  We would also like to give a special thank you to our own team who continue to blow us away every single day. To those out in the community providing care, to our dementia support team ensuring everyone is able to access support.  Our operations department for keeping us up and running and our fundraising team for raising vital funds through campaigns and grant applications.  To those who had to patiently wait at home on furlough due to services closing and those who had to adapt their roles for the circumstances.  Last but by no means least, thank you to our board of dedicated trustees, our CEO and the senior leadership team who worked tirelessly to ensure the charity continued to be in a place where we could help so many people affected by dementia when they needed us the most.

Abbie Boyd

Communications Officer