Page 74 - RAPTC Year of 2019

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JOINT HOSPITAL GROUP SOUTH EAST (JHGSE)
Sgt (SI) D Morgan RAPTC
Another busy yet rewarding year working as the RAPTCI working at JHGSE. The unit is unique in military terms, like other JHG’s, they are embedded and support the NHS trust at Frimley Park Hospital. This was a start to a different adventure unlike any other unit I have ever experienced before. The military personnel (95% female) are drawn from all 3 services. Trades ranging from nurses to radiographers, health care assistants to consultants, biomedical scientists with the Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps (QARANC) forming the dominant cap badge. The location of the Gymnasium is housed between Frimley Park Hospital and the Cadet Training Centre.
Where to start? I very quickly realised that this would be no ordinary job and had to improvise, adapt and overcome as the gym plus surrounding areas were not big enough to accommodate the entire unit’s strength for CO’s PT on Friday’s. This is the only day of the week that the whole unit is in the same place, altogether, for joint physical exercise instruction presenting a huge challenge. During the week days PT sessions fall into a more accommodating steady state based around the clinical staff shift patterns, which I found interesting. This though created an excellent opportunity to employ the Lone Solider PT programme to full effect.
Even though the units main focus is clinically based, they still strive to conduct as much AT as possible. We deployed to Capel Curig for a 2-week multi activity package. This involved 5 days of activities taking in.... Unfortunately for us, it was the wrong time of the year to be in North Wales, but morale was high amongst the clinicians and they embraced the opportunity to get wet and cold in true military tradition.
The unit is a breeding ground for all sorts of sporting achievements ranging from local unit, Army and even up to national level. This encompasses but not limited to sports ranging from Athletics, Jujitsu, Netball, Cross country, Rugby players and even staff participating as referees, the list is almost endless. This has made my life as a RAPTCI much easier as the unit is so forward leaning in promoting and encouraging sport at all levels. This year saw the unit triumph as champions at AMS Athletics, AMS female team of
All bikes nice and clean at this point. This photo would have looked a lot different in 5 hours’ time
the year, AMS netball and Hockey champions, AMS snowboarding champions. The display cabinet in our RHQ is packed with a lot of ‘bling’ which makes the Duty Officers job of accounting for all of it a nightmare!
Ex Med Rock - The Annual unit exercise focuses on basic military skills. Even with the very busy schedule unit personnel continue to support the NHS whilst maintaining their military skills to be able to deploy on operations. The week-long exercise concluded with an Inter Squadron Competition, which all Unit members were very much looking forward to competing in.
Families Day - This event brought everyone together as a unit including those that lived in the SFA’s and respected messes. There were all sorts of activities on display that were predominantly child focused. The children (and parents) enjoyed the Space Hopper Obstacle course, and I must add that there were free ice creams (After completion of the course...).
NHS Command Task Day - This was a challenge I could not miss but also had to plan accordingly as civilians were involved. The day was conducted at RMAS and started off with an ice breaker with the civilians keen to getting stuck into a military environment. The tasks and scenarios varied within the groups making it a good environment to learn. There was good feedback from the NHS and there are plans to make this a regular event within the unit FOE.
Sgt Morgan at a tense moment of “heads or tails” at the AMS TOW final. JHG (SE) v JHG (N)