From left, Diane Dean, Catering Assistant, and Ruth Gwynn-Thomas, Locum Occupational Therapist
Hotels and businesses in the local area have been thanked by staff at the county’s specialist orthopaedic hospital for their acts of kindness and support during the coronavirus pandemic.
Colleagues at The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital (RJAH) want to express their gratitude to businesses, who have either offered their support in various ways during the crisis, as well as to those who have donated goods to staff, including deliveries of snacks and drinks to keep staff members’ morale high.
The Oswestry-based hospital also wants to thank the Lion Quays Hotel near Weston Rhyn and The Hand Hotel Chirk, who have kindly housed RJAH staff, that have needed to isolate from their families or minimise their commutes during the outbreak.
Ruth Gwynn-Thomas, Locum Occupational Therapist, who had been staying at The Hand Hotel Chirk for a period of the pandemic, has praised the hotel for supporting the hospital.
She said: “I have had accommodation provided for the past three weeks to allow me to work successive days to cover staff annual leave. I live 55 miles away, so the accommodation has been an absolute blessing.
“The staff at The Hand have been nothing but helpful and accommodating. They have sorted a take-out breakfast to fit in with my drive to work. A big thank you to the fantastic staff at The Hand and also the Trust for helping to make this challenging period a lot more bearable. It’s made a real difference.”
Stacey Keegan, Acting Chief Executive, said: “A huge thank you to all of the local businesses for their generous support throughout the pandemic. From deliveries of hot meals, snacks and drinks to those who have sewn medical scrubs and produced hand sanitiser. It’s all made a big difference to staff morale.
“We must also express our thanks to the wonderful teams at the Lion Quays Hotel and The Hand Hotel for housing our staff during this time. We’ve been blown away by the support you’ve given to our staff – and myself included, the Lion Quays and also Sebastians Hotel in Oswestry looked after me for a good few weeks’ during this pandemic, in order to cut down my commute from Birmingham at the time.
“The difference this accommodation has made to staff wellbeing during the outbreak has been incredible. What a fantastic community our hospital is part of.”
