Doncaster health trust shortlisted in top awards for its long covid service

Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust (RDaSH) has been shortlisted in the Community Care Initiative of the Year in the awards despite tough competition from hundreds of applicants.

The Trust’s work around Long Covid has been selected based on ambition, visionary spirit and the positive impact that they have had on patients and staff.

Clinicians in the Doncaster services worked very closely with primary care, health and care partners and others to develop a service for patients which has a range of therapeutic interventions to support both mental and physical health.

Several hundred people have already accessed the service and have seen positive improvements with their physical and mental health as well it helping them return to work.

RDaSH service lead Stephanie Blythe said: “Our holistic approach involves patients having access to a number of agencies depending on their needs.

"We have also prioritised working with underserved communities via our dedicated community engagement officer, we actively work with partners including the Minorities Partnership Board, Complex Lives Programme for people who may be experiencing homelessness, men’s health groups and we attended the Public Health Spring Fair for the Traveller Community– to ensure everyone can benefit from the Long Covid service.”

Dr Judith Graham, Director for Therapies at RDaSH, said: “We are extremely proud of the way the service has made a difference for our patients and how we have worked in partnership with others.”

Patient Wayne Morgan said: “Everything they did for me was first class. They took time to speak to me and investigate everything and were open about talking about anything. They were approachable to someone who doesn’t trust people easily and I felt comfortable talking about things including my mental health which I have struggled with before and COVID really did put me in a bad place.

"Just having someone to listen to me and allow me to speak about my issues and act on them has been amazing. They have saved me mentally and medically and I hope they know that.”

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