Page 16 - QARANC Vol 14 No 8 2014

14 QARANC THE GAZETTE
Remembrance Sunday Parade Queen Elizabeth Hospital
Members of the Association living in Birmingham are very proud of the contact with RCDM, based at the New Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
We are always pleased to meet the Serving Members and take part in joint activities.
This November 10th we were invited to attend the Remembrance Sunday Parade at the Hospital. Two Midland Branch members, Pat Akroyd and Dorothy Griffiths, were present. Other members were taking part in the City Centre parade or with their local communities.
On arrival we were amazed at the transformation of the Atrium, normally an extremely busy OPD waiting area, which – after my first visit a few years ago- I likened to the main Coach station without the diesel fumes!
However, all the chairs from the waiting areas had been arranged to form two orderly rows with a central aisle, giving the whole place a cathedral-like atmosphere, with the far end set up as a Chapel.
There were about 300 Military personnel and their families there.
Dress code varied from surgical scrubs, through DPM fatigues to full Brass and medals with several patients in wheel- chairs. Many medal wearers only looked about fifteen years old through the eyes of an ageing veteran.
The Service which was very moving and dignified was conducted by Padre Jonathon Daniel, CF, Chaplain at RCDM. RBL banners were paraded and laid up and the hymns and
bugles resounded under the high ceiling.
During the Service, Major Alison Cripps, QARANC and Mrs
Jill Saunders sang “Ave verum”, by WA Mozart and “For the fallen” by Geoff Stephens.
On leaving, we were thanked by the Padre for attending but we felt thanks ought to go the other way as we had been made so welcome and moved by the occasion.
Tea, coffee and cup cakes were served before we left and I walked home feeling both humble and yet very proud to be a part of it all.
We do so hope to be invited next year and possibly lay a wreath alongside those of our serving colleagues.
Pat Akroyd and Dorothy Griffiths
Healthcare Assistants Foundation Course 01/13 4 Feb – 24 May 2013
The first day of the course comprised of a lot of sitting in a classroom with people that had never met before, with Sgt Lenahgen reading us the riot act on what we couldn’t do now we were in a Phase 2 establishment, as most of us were trade transfers from the Field Army. Then we meet all the other staff, which included the OC Major Maloney, the 2IC Capt Game and Sgt Johnston-Plumb. The first week was spent doing the usual admin for courses and getting our grey beret and cap-badges. This also included the mandatory PFT, which was particularly emotional for a lot of us. After a week of briefings and signing bits of paperwork we then got into the bulk of the course.
The first seven weeks were for many of us, the most stressful of the course as the volume of information that we had to learn was astronomical. The lessons included the body systems, dignity, holistic care, manual handling, to name but a
few. You might not think this was a lot, but when most of the class came from no medical background at all it was a lot to take in. We were from various capbadges in the Army as well as straight from Phase 1 basic training, with only a few having medical training before.
The extra stress came with the weekly progress tests which got progressively harder as the time rolled by at vast speed. This caused extreme stress in the group but as a team we all helped each other and made it through.
The sporting events were where the HCA’s excelled within Keogh Barracks, and caused a bit of upset. We invited ourselves to the basketball, which we won much to the dismay of the CMTs and the rest of the single Services. The tug of war was the biggest surprise with the HCA’s coming third out of eight but it was all in the good sprit of sportsmanship. We also won the chess and table tennis championships, which gave our instructors and OC some serious bragging rights at Keogh which Major Maloney enjoyed very much.
After the class 3 exam, which was a beast of a paper lasting two hours and was like a small encyclopaedia, we where let lose in a care home for four weeks to consolidate the skills we had learnt and to understand the fundamental of patient care. The placements were hard and long with all sixteen of us spread over four local care homes and then having to come back and do PT and Diploma work on a Friday. We all made it through the placements and completed our competency workbooks. This was unlike anything that a lot of us had every done in our Army career; looking after the elderly in a nursing home. But the experience was great and really put us in good stead for our relevant postings.
The class 2 section of the course was more focused on us doing the work with trainee presentations and more Diploma work. A lot of us had never done this amount of work before for a Phase 2 course. We also had other lessons like care of