Duchess of Cambridge thanks nurses for 'going the extra mile' during pandemic
21 January 2021, 22:30 | Updated: 21 January 2021, 22:32
The Duchess of Cambridge has praised nurses for "going the extra mile" during the pandemic in a video call with healthcare workers.
Kate made her comment as she chatted to a group of nurses with a variety of different roles, from University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust (UHCW), to learn about their experiences.
The Duchess of Cambridge heard the touching story of a senior nurse who held the hand of a dying patient and played his favourite band Bon Jovi after his wife could not make it to his bedside.
She praised Vasu Lingappa for going the "extra mile" and shared a lighter moment with the NHS worker who joked the patient's wife had wanted him to sing the rock group's hits - but he declined because of his strong Asian accent.
Kate also praised a nurse who highlighted she had been telling the public about the importance of the vaccine, saying being able to "reassure the public" was "fantastic".
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Speaking during the video call held on Tuesday, Kate said: "You hear time and time again about the amazing things nurses up and down the country are doing - going that extra mile.
"It's the things that, you know, it's not part of the training and the things that you're taught, but the things that come from your heart.
"I think that's what matters so much now, these acts of kindness to the patients you're looking after, that are in your care, that family members aren't able to be there, but you are going that extra mile and being there."
Kate spoke to the medical workers from Sandringham, the Queen's Norfolk residence, which is close to the duchess' home of Anmer Hall where her three children are being home schooled.
It is understood the Queen, who is spending the lockdown at Windsor Castle, has allowed the Cambridges use of Sandringham to make video calls, now a familiar part of royal engagements.
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Mr Lingappa, a critical care outreach practitioner, told the duchess: "A lot of people are dying and we normally have families surrounding them during the last hour, but we're not able to do that.
"And if I can give you a little example, we had a gentleman and unfortunately he was dying, so we spoke to his wife and she said, 'I can't come to see (him) but can you make sure you sing Bon Jovi and hold his hand?'.
"And I said, 'if I sing Bon Jovi in my accent. It won't be appropriate'. So I took my phone out and played a YouTube video of Bon Jovi and I held his hand."
He went on to say: "It's been tough, but like I said earlier, I'm surrounded by some amazing people with lots of skills and inspirational stories.
"We are nurses (some) working in critical care for 30 years, 35 years, 40 years - so there is nothing they haven't seen, but this is unprecedented."
A nurse from UHCW made headlines when she delivered the first Covid vaccine in the world to grandmother Margaret Keenan in December at University Hospital in Coventry.
Since then more than 440,000 vaccines have been delivered across the Midlands with the vaccination programme continuing in the region.
Kate, patron of the Nursing Now campaign which aims to raise the profile of nurses globally, asked all the nurses: "How are everyone's spirits? I know we're not through this yet, but how is everyone doing?"
Professor Nina Morgan, chief nursing officer at UCHW, replied: "Some of our nurses on our frontline wards find the shifts incredibly difficult because of the volume of people who have been admitted to our hospital who have Covid.
"When I'm walking round the ward and speaking to nurses, there are some who are absolutely visibly distressed and upset by what they're seeing and what they're experiencing."
