It seems a long time ago now that things were in a state of what we would call ‘normal’ but hopefully we are fast approaching that point again. For people and organisations like St. Rocco’s, life has had to go on as close to normal as possible during the last 18 months.

This is particularly so in our in-patient unit (IPU) that has continued to provide 24-hour care throughout the period of Covid. Doing so has placed great strain on all the IPU staff, but they have pulled together and coped with this admirably, as we discovered when we recently to spoke to Andrea Crowley one of our Healthcare Assistants.

NVQ Band 3 in Health & Social Care

We were talking to Andrea to find out more about the NVQ Band 3 in Health & Social care that she had recently achieved. This has taken her some 18 months of work including time at college as well as being assessed on-site at St. Rocco’s.

Andrea has been at St. Rocco’s for an amazing 21 years, so achieving this accreditation has been the result of some hard work. “I really love this role,” she explained, “but I would not have been able to achieve the accreditation without the fantastic support of the rest of the IPU team.

“The pandemic and the need to isolate has really brought us closer together. Both emotional support and the need to cover each other’s shifts, to ensure our patients don’t suffer, has shown to me what a great team they are.

“I am proud to be part of such a caring group of people who have carried on working on the front line during Covid and am looking forward to things getting back to normal soon.”

A big thank you from all at St. Rocco’s to our fantastic IPU team.