In my visit to Alder Hey I met the rebootable Chief Executives of both the Trust itself and their charity. But look behind the figures and see the building itself which is far removed from the grim building that it replaced.
My first two events this week, which I attended as Lord Mayor, were to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital and then to an event to commemorate those who had been organ donors after their own demise and who were there represented by their families. Both these events showed the very best of the NHS and indeed the people of Britain. I saw bravery from patients and their families. Some of them were very young indeed. I saw compassion and care from people who have devoted their lives to looking after the most vulnerable in our society, a description that could apply to any of us when we fall seriously ill.
At Alder Hey I met with the Chief Executive of the Hospital and the Chief Executive of the Alder Hey charity. I was there to have a chat about what I could do to help them during my mayoral year. Disadvantaged children are one of my key themes and it is also where one of my partners for the year, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orcestra play a strong part is using music to help the mental wellbeing of patients. I was amused, on my way round, to meet my next-door neighbour, Georgina Aasgard, on her way to play the cello in a variety of settings.
The two Chief Executives will soon be coming up with several ideas about how I might assist them, and I look forward to another meeting soon and requests for my diary! But it was when I went on a tour that my eyes were really opened to see what the hospital does for sick young people. I talked to a Mum and Grandma who were sitting outside in the sun trying to stay calm whilst their child was being subjected to a minimum eight hour operation to remove part of his brain. They told me that there would be 13 NHS staff working as a team to cure their lad. In the USA that family would not have stood a chance of paying for that level of service. They came from Blackpool.
I talked to another family, this time from mid Wales, who were awaiting their turn for their daughter to have an operation which should have been, and I hope was, just an over nigher. This was not her first visit to Alder Hey and all the family were very calm as they awaited the call. A word here about the ambience of the hospital. It is extremely well designed, decorated and managed to provide an oasis of calm at a time when the children and their families needed it. It just didn’t seem like a hospital, but, in part, a quiet indoor shopping centre. Even the smells of chemicals and carbolic, which used to inspire terror in my heart, had been removed as cleansing materials and schedules had been altered to remove those noxious odours.
Then on to the oncology ward and a tour of the facility with the practice nurses and orderlies who provided a safe space for children. I spoke to a family that were regular visitors and another whose teenage girl had basically been there for a year. I saw the way that the staff interacted with patients and their families. I saw how a Mum and Dad were able to be with their child who only days before had been diagnosed with a stage four cancer. I visited to ‘youth club’ which long stay teenage patients could ‘chill out’ and the play area for younger kids.
We then could not avoid going out in to Springfield Park. Alder Hey know my concerns about the way that the Park had been dealt with over the years and the fact that it was considerably delayed. What seems indisputable to me, however, is the benefit that can be had for both community and patients. A hospital in a park in which facilities could be provided for both residents and patients is a sound idea. We all know benefit of trees and greenery. I hope that the Trust will redouble its efforts to make a joint approach a success.
Then yesterday I went to the organ donors’ event at the Athenaeum. This is an opportunity for us to give thanks and provide support for the families of those whose family member had granted the gift of a good life or even life itself to someone after their death. Sometimes up to nine organs can be extracted from one donor to give sight or life to people that they will never know.
This event too was a heady mixture of courage, determination, and hope. The participants were not only the families but many staff who guided the families through those traumatic last moments of life for their loved ones and gave them the strength to make the decisions about how their loved one could ‘live on’ through others. Every family had brought a picture of their loved on be it a fiancé, brother, sister, Mum or Dad or just a close mate. In the front row sat a two-year-old ‘Daddy’s girl’ who will never know her father. Each family then lit a candle in front of their loved one’s photo and afterwards lots of photos got taken to commemorate both the event and the role that the deceased had played in creating hope out of tragedy.
Three things struck me because of going to both these events. Firstly, the compassion of the staff of all the organisations present, and their love and diligence in doing their jobs. I think that we can all appreciate that it will not be easy working with terminally ill children or with the families of those who have died. These people are heroes, and we should always be prepared to thank them.
Secondly, so much is done within the NHS by dedicated volunteers. In Alder Hey more than 200 volunteers happily give their time to act as guides, advisers and sometimes just a sympathetic ear. I say ‘just’ but at times of stress nothing could be more important. The whole of the event for donors was run by the St Ambulance local chapter. These are the people who provide practical support to the bereaved families as well as training up thousands of cadets each year to quite an advanced level of first aid and basic medical skills. While I am talking about cadets can I claim some glory by association here. Jenna Miah who lives next door to me was not only the Merseyside cadet of the year but the Noth West cadet of the year as well. I now know where to go where I’m feeling a bit iffy!!
Lastly, my visits made me so proud of the NHS and so relieved not to live in a country where you must pay for your treatments or suffer or in extremity die. The NHS is worth fighting for and I hope that during my year in office I can help those dedicated staff and volunteers in any way that they request to thank them for their great work and to encourage others to get involved.
But what does Richard Kemp think? 