3 January 2023
Emergency Department staff racing from Edinburgh to Southampton
The Emergency Department in Southampton are raising money to invest in staff wellbeing. It is no secret that across the country, Emergency Departments have faced unprecedented pressures and NHS staff have carried themselves with strength and grace. Now it is our turn to look after them.
Rachael Hains, Patient Tracker, from Southampton says, “I’ve worked in Southampton General Hospital for the last 10 months.
My role takes some of the administrative pressure off the clinical staff and helps assist with flow through the department.
Every day I watch my colleagues lead with kindness and patience, it doesn’t matter how tired they are, they show up smiling. I am in awe of everything they do, and I want to do something to support them.
In 2020 our new children’s emergency and trauma department opened through Charity support, and our adult’s emergency department expanded in 2021 to keep up with the growing demand on our emergency services.
Race across the country
The idea to race across the country was sparked by a conversation about mental health within our department, so on 8 May 2023, we are cycling and kayaking from Edinburgh to our Emergency Department in Southampton.
We are currently a team of five with several wonderful volunteers from the Emergency Department.
We’ve only just started and already the response has been an overwhelming outpouring of support.