STAFF at St Cross Hospital have been thanked for their hard work by the Mayor of Rugby.
Coun Tom Mahoney launched his Simple Thank You campaign at the start of his Mayoral year to highlight the work of individuals and organisations who serve Rugby’s communities.
He visited St Cross to present certificates to staff who work in the hospital’s outpatients department and the £400,000 Friends Blood Taking Unit, which opened in 2015 with the help of a £140,000 donation from the Friends of the Hospital of St Cross.
Coun Mahoney presented the Friends with a Simple Thank You at the charity’s annual general meeting earlier this year, and trustees of the charity joined him on his tour of the hospital.
During the visit, Coun Mahoney met volunteers from the Friends who run the St Cross tea bar, organise the charity’s book sales and help visitors navigate the hospital.
He toured a number of departments, including the cardiac rehabilitation unit, the urgent care centre and the soon-to-be opened sleep studies unit, which has benefited from an £80,000 donation from the Friends and funding from the Rugby Group Benevolent Fund.
Coun Mahoney’s tour included a visit to the cardiac rehabilitation unit, where he spoke with cardiac rehabilitation programme manager Jo Holdsworth and pedalled on an exercise bike – part of a £40,000 package of equipment supplied to the unit by the Friends of the Hospital of St Cross. Picture by Eddie White.Coun Mahoney was welcomed to the hospital by Lisa Kelly, chief operating officer of University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) NHS Trust, who outlined the trust’s commitment to St Cross and its plans for the hospital’s future.
He ended his tour with a visit to the Rugby Hospital Radio studio, where he was interviewed by the station’s chairman, Mike O’Connor.
Mike O’Connor, chairman of Rugby Hospital Radio, interviewed Coun Mahoney at the end of his visit. Picture by Eddie White.Coun Mahoney, a former army medic when he served with the Queen’s Own Hussars, said: “My Simple Thank You campaign celebrates the theme of my Mayoral year, service.
“The staff of the NHS embody the idea of service, dedicating themselves to a demanding profession and delivering the highest standards of care while often working under considerable pressure.
“I was delighted to meet so many of the team at St Cross during my visit, including volunteers from the Friends, who do so much to support both the frontline staff and the hospital as a whole.
“After hearing so much about the Friends’ work, it was great to see the fruits of the charity’s fund-raising and see for myself the wide range of health services available at our hospital.”
The Friends of the Hospital of St Cross formed in 1955, and supports the hospital by running a range of voluntary services and donating equipment to improve the patient experience.
Friends chairman Willy Goldschmidt said: “The Rugby community reflects their passion for the hospital in the support they give to the Friends by fund-raising and volunteering.
“This support has allowed us to buy new equipment for the hospital and help UHCW NHS Trust develop new services at St Cross.
“The Mayor had thanked the Friends for all of this at our annual general meeting and it was a real pleasure to show him what we do at first hand.”
Juliet Starkey, group manager of the Hospital of St Cross, said: “We are proud of the amazing work all our staff do for our patients at St Cross and this was reflected in the Care Quality Commission inspection report feedback in 2018.
“It was a pleasure to show the Mayor around the services on site and hear him say a personal thank you to our staff. People are often surprised at the range of services that we are now able to offer at the hospital.”
