HEALTH bosses say the welfare of their staff is at the forefront of their minds as Hereford County Hospital prepares for what is expected to be a tough winter.

Wye Valley NHS Trust chief executive told today’s board meeting that there was readiness and positive at all levels of the organisation.

He said Hereford County Hospital was currently well placed in terms of staff wellbeing and they will do everything they can to support them.

“We are much better placed in terms of managing Covid-19 but we have the complexities of winter demand alongside it, so it will be a challenging winter,” Mr Burley said.

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Non-executive director Richard Humphreys asked about staff wellbeing.

“I’m sure you’ve got this covered but to be absolutely sure we are doing everything we can to support and sustain our staff in the difficult months ahead.

He said if there was anything they could do as non-executives they would help.

“We are a unitary board and we need to be supporting each other,” he added.

Mr Burley said: “We are well placed. There are some national offers and regional support for staff but we can’t be complacent on this and we need to continue looking and checking that our staff are being supported.

Managing director Jane Ives said their workforce health and wellbeing is very important to them.

“We are all really committed that we continue to concentrate on that.

“I met with a group of consultants earlier this week and asked how they were feeling about going into winter.

“And the answer was it’s doing it all again but without the adrenaline.

“That probably summarises how people are feeling. It’s without that level of it’s new, we are learning lots of new things.

“We know what’s coming and they are girding their loins.

“Keeping those lines of communication open so that we continue listen and respond to what staff are saying to us.

“As a leadership team, that is absolutely at the forefront of our minds.”