Professor Mike Holmes, of primary care services provider Nimbuscare, says in this week's colun for The Press that no one working in the NHS deserves to be shouted at or abused during their working day.

 

As we begin to ramp up our vaccination programme once again in York for the Autumn flu and Covid vaccination campaign, we’re calling on more people to join our volunteer team at Askham Bar.

Our volunteer programme attracted national recognition when, at the height of the vaccination programme, we had almost 400 volunteers working with us.

They worked daily four-hour shifts, tireless working during all weathers, helping the teams work smoothly. We really couldn’t have done it without them.

This September we need an extra 50 people to volunteer to work various shifts from 8am until 8pm Monday to Saturday, as well as Sunday mornings, alongside our vaccination teams.

Volunteering to work alongside our vaccinators is a brilliant opportunity to learn about the healthcare system, as well as giving back to your community.

So, if you’re available for a few hours, please get in touch. Check out our recruitment page on our website for more details.

If you’re keen to volunteer further, there are also opportunities across the road from our Askham Bar Community Care Centre with St Leonard’s Hospice. They need volunteers to work across a whole range of areas, including retail, catering and gardening roles.

Volunteering can be a good way of exploring work opportunities – some of our former volunteers at Nimbuscare are now working in permanent jobs with us.

Having dipped their feet into the NHS as a volunteer, they were keen to get involved further which has been valuable for us.

As people will probably know, Nimbuscare has always focused on collaborative working across our community.

Whether that involves working with health and care partners, local business, schools and colleges or community groups and charities, we’re constantly in conversation with people, as well as patients.

These contacts are based on mutual respect and understanding that we all face certain challenges and pressures.

As the country faces financial and political uncertainty, we are all dealing with pressure and frustration. But this is no excuse for rudeness and aggression.

Once again, this week I’ve had to console a receptionist at one of my GP surgeries who was verbally abused by a patient – they were told they were ‘a worthless person’.

This behaviour is unacceptable and can’t be tolerated by the teams who work tirelessly to help.

This city should be proud to have a good healthcare community which has pulled together throughout this pandemic, working and collaborating as one.

No one working within the NHS, or anywhere else for that matter, deserves to be shouted out or abused during their working day.

It’s sad that I am having to ask people to treat others with kindness and respect once again. This should be something ingrained in all of us.

The vast majority of our relationships in this city are positive, so let’s to work to transform the behaviour of the minority.

The effect they have on our healthcare teams is tremendous – it particularly impacts on recruitment and retention of staff. 

If our staff are happy, they remain with us and are there to support our patients. It’s a simple as that.