Following a recent appeal from local health boards for support to doctors, nurses, staff and patients who have been unable to have visitors, the South Wales Freemasons have donated £500 of basic items which were urgently needed.
The NHS staff required hand cream, lip salve, boiled sweets, chewing gum and many other basic necessities to help with conditions encountered in wearing full PPE.
Patients who were not allowed visitors were in need of nightwear, toiletries, face cloths, combs, hairbrushes, toothbrushes and many other personal items, which were not accessible.
The donation from the Freemasons was topped up with another £100 from Tesco’s supermarket at Western Avenue, Cardiff.
Robert Payne, Charity Steward of the South Wales Freemasons and Jeff Coles of Llanfair Lodge collected the items from Tesco and delivered them directly to Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr and to the Cardiff & Vale University Health Board for distribution throughout their hospitals and the emergency vaccination centres.
The items were gratefully received by Lucie Barrett, Senior Fund Raiser for the Cardiff & Vale University Health Board and Caroline Vaughan, Senior Nurse at Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr.
Simone Joslyn, head of Cardiff & Vale Health Charity said: “We were delighted that the South Wales Freemasons responded so quickly to our appeal and made such a generous donation to support our frontline staff and our patients who are suffering from Covid-19. The donation of basic essential items will make a significant difference to those who are directly tackling this pandemic”
Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr has replaced the 85 year old Caerphilly Miners’ Hospital, Ystrad Mynach Hospital Ty Sirhowy Mental Health Unit and smaller community hospitals in the area with the most up to date health facilities.
The hospital has 269 beds, all in single en-suite bedrooms which will help to provide high quality care, reduce hospital acquired infection rates and give patients the privacy and dignity they need. The hospital also has a Nurse-led Minor Injuries Unit within a 24-hour local emergency centre, integrated mental health unit, and provides day surgery, and comprehensive diagnostic, outpatient and therapy services.
Cardiff and Vale University Health Board is one of the largest NHS organisations in Europe. It employs over 14,500 staff and provide health and wellbeing services to a population of around 472,400 people living in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan. They also serve a wider population across South and Mid Wales for a range of specialties.
They are a teaching Health Board with close links to the university sector, and together they are training the next generation of healthcare professionals, while working on research that will hopefully unlock the cures for today’s illnesses.