Charity thanks local people for support during critical incident

When a critical incident was declared by Hampshire Hospitals, local people stepped in to support NHS staff who worked around the clock to ensure patients were well looked after. 

Jessica Giles of Give A Little hands donations to Hampshire Hospitals chief executive Alex Whitfield. 

Unprecedented demand was placed on hospital services last week due to the impact of winter viruses, with a significant number of patients presenting with respiratory issues. With beds in hospitals at full capacity and attendance at emergency departments extremely high, there was no capacity to admit further patients, putting a strain on the teams working to make people better. 

That’s when Hampshire Hospitals Charity, which supports staff and patients at hospitals in Basingstoke, Winchester and Andover, dropped everything to see what they could do to help. 

Long and incredibly busy shifts meant it was difficult for staff to take proper breaks, and many didn’t have the time to step away and buy food from the restaurant as they usually would. The charity contacted local businesses to see if they could help to stock staff rooms and rest areas with a variety of food and drink to keep them sustained and boost morale. 

Fyffes managing director John Hopkins, left, and Toni Direito, sales manager, right, hand over bananas to Hampshire Hospitals Charity’s fundraising officer Lisa Clark.

Mark Hainy, head of charity at Hampshire Hospitals Charity said; “As soon as the critical incident was called, the charity team got straight on the phone to everyone they knew to see if they could help keep our staff fed and watered as they worked longer shifts and took shorter breaks to ensure our patients were cared for. 

“To say we’ve been overwhelmed by the response is an understatement and we’re incredibly grateful to all those who supported us with supplying ‘grab and go’ items that our teams could consume as they were in between seeing patients. Staff passed on comments to say ‘this is amazing’ and ‘this made my day’ when they realised others were thinking of them and wanted to help. The support has been greatly appreciated by everyone across our hospitals and I want to thank everyone, on their behalf, for their support.” 

Those who responded to the call for help included Jessica Giles and Give A Little, The Rapid Relief Team, Domino's Pizza Chineham, Tesco Chineham, Sainsbury's Kempshott, The Holly Blue, Pizza Express Winchester, B&M Basingstoke, Apollo Hotel Basingstoke, Bidfood UK Basingstoke, Lidl UK Worthing Road, Starbucks Kempshott, Morrisons Basingstoke, Fyffes UK, Rocco's Pizza Chandler's Ford, Five Borough Pizza, The Village Bakery Harestock, Papa Johns Andover, and the Co-op. 

Hampshire hospitals staff enjoy pizzas donated by Domino’s  

Alex Whitfield, chief executive of Hampshire Hospitals and trustee of the charity, said; “The support from our communities during the past week has been very much appreciated; it made all the difference as we sought to treat and care for patients during a time of extraordinary demand.  

“As well as making shifts easier, it lifted people’s spirits and staff felt that their efforts were appreciated. My thanks to the organisations large and small who took the time and effort to support us.” 

The critical incident has recently been stood down, however, staff across Hampshire Hospitals are still working hard under pressure to support patients. Donations have been incredibly welcomed but the charity is now asking anyone who wishes to help to donate to the staff support and wellbeing fund at here.