I met Sister Tracy Atwood and her team today at The Friary. It is a wonderful Community Hospital that has 18 beds and provides a good range of health care services for the local population.
This year the team on the Victoria Ward won the South Tees NHS Trust Team Nightingale Award. The award is given for outstanding care and compassion in nursing. When I spoke to some elderly patients on the ward it was clear why the team here won.
Mrs Gladys Boreham spoke of her love for the staff at the Friary saying to me “she could not be happier” and Mrs Mary Sheffield also described the hospital as “absolutely marvelous”.
Both ladies were recuperating at the Friary rather than at the Friarage or James Cook and this was of huge benefit to them. Friends and family were close by and could easily visit. And once they did not need to be in an acute ward, the community feel of the smaller Friary was a much more pleasant place to be.
Mrs Boreham also wanted to speak with me about the broader economic picture, pensions and jobs. She had just celebrated her 98th birthday and had lots to ask me!