Page 22 - QARANC Vol 19 No 1 2021

20 The Gazette QARANC Association
Bulford Healthcare Facility 2020 The COVID-19 pandemic
The year 2020 brought with it many curveballs but the biggest of them all was the novel Corona virus more commonly known as COVID-19. With these curveballs came many unprecedented challenges to the Department of Community Mental Health (DCMH). However unprecedented, these challenges were timeously and effectively dealt with by the team at Bulford Healthcare Facility (BHF).
In compliance with the COVID-19 regulations, the team at Bulford Healthcare Facility adopted and adapted to the new way of working as business had to continue. Remote working, virtual consultations, Skype meetings and Zoom conferences have become the new normal. This adaptiveness has allowed us as a team to not allow the COVID-19 global pandemic to deter us from providing our patients with quality service, rather it has enabled us to remain accessible to our patients, at a time where physical/in-person consultations were prohibited and/or a health risk. It can even be argued that this new normal actually meant more accessibility as patients could access our services from the comfort of their own homes.
In the summer, our team moved to a brand-new facility in Bulford. A robust plan, excellent teamwork and a dedicated team force made
the transition from our old facility to the new one smooth and in no way compromised patient care, which remains our primary concern.
A new facility warranted a visit from Chief Nursing Officer, Colonel Alison Farmer, whom we had the pleasure of hosting for an afternoon. Colonel Farmer’s visit was one of her many visits to various QA teams. During her visit Colonel Farmer was able to evaluate the organisational culture and human factors at BHF. Her visit no doubt left the team even more determined to seek clinical excellence and it did a great job in boosting staff morale. Whilst at BHF, Colonel Farmer spent time with the DCMH team as well as the Regional Occupation Health Teams (ROHT).
Colonel Farmer was shown around the new facility. Our new model of working was also described and showcased in great detail to her. More importantly however, the Chief Nursing Officer’s visit allowed for a productive discussion on the challenges and opportunities within the Corps. One such challenge which I found to be quite significant was the issue of nurses and the many problems they come across. The team had an opportunity to discuss these problems openly. Such an open discussion allowed us to learn a little bit more about Colonel Farmer. Having enlisted into the QARANC as a student nurse in 1986, she faced
many of the same challenges as we are facing today. The fact that despite these challenges she rose above them and is now in the position she is today was quite inspiring to me as a newly qualified nurse. I can imagine this had the same effect on the rest of the team which no doubt boosted staff morale. Her disclosure about the challenges she faced was a motivation booster for me and gave me the courage to rise above my own challenges that I might face as a nurse.
At Colonel Farmer’s visit we were gifted Amazon vouchers as a thank you token from the QARANC Association which were a great incentive for the BFH team to continue their amazing work towards client satisfaction. At the end of her visit, the staff were left with a greater drive to be better and do better in the goal to helping our patients.
Ultimately, it was a great honor to have Colonel Farmer spend an afternoon with us. Her visit turned out to be quite insightful and provided a much-needed break from the routine of everyday work. I would like to offer my heartfelt thanks to Colonel Farmer for taking the time out of her no doubt busy schedule to visit us. We look forward to more visits and fruitful discussions.
Corporal Hilda Chilonda
Registered Nurse (MH)
DCMH at Bulford Healthcare Facility
OP TOSCA – Peacekeeping in Cyprus
I volunteered for an Op TOSCA tour in Cyprus together with Sergeant Alexandra (Alex) Riley RAMC.
I was given the role of 1 Platoon section commander with the area of operations being West side sector 2. In civilian life I am a nurse in Accident and Emergency in one of Liverpool’s main hospitals.
Prior to our pre tour leave back at Okehampton, 1 platoon were part of a public order validation exercise lead by Military Training Mobilisation Centre (MTMC). During this exercise I was able to command a shield team. We learned and practiced petrol bomb drills (which involved actual petrol bombs) and man
away/man down drills, we received lots of verbal abuse and had many missiles thrown at us, all courtesy of the lovely Coldstream Guards. As scary as it sounds, 1 platoon became renowned for being very slick with drills. A very enjoyable experience!
Moving on, after a week’s home leave the pre deployment training continued at Nescliffe with the All Ranks Brief (ARB) and Mission Readiness Exercise (MRX). What did this involve for myself and 1 section? During the ARB we received a series of lectures from MTMC covering a range of topics from culture to actions on drills and things to expect on patrols. My platoon will be
Sergeant Alex Riley and Corporal Jess Hindley proudly wearing their Blue Peacekeeping Berets.