THE IMPORTANCE OF THORNBURY HOSPITAL
 

From Miss Doreen G Cooksley
 

"I write in support of the SAVE THORNBURY HOSPITAL CAMPAIGN. As pastoral organiser for the parishes of the United Benefice of Cromhall, Tortworth, Tytherington, Falfield and Rockhampton, and in other voluntary work in local villages, I have had considerable experience of visiting patients in Henderson Ward Thornbury and also occasionally at Blackberry Hill Hospital, Bristol.

"I have always been greatly impressed by the personal care and attention given by staff at Henderson Ward, and noticed how happy and at home the patients are made to feel. Often I have made previous visits to them when in one of the Bristol Hospitals and have seen how happy and relieved they were to be told they were being transferred to Thornbury. They felt they were coming home. Relatives were able to visit daily, friends dropped in while shopping at Thornbury and often they met up with old friends from the neighbourhood who were themselves patients.

"For several weeks I visited an old lady whose children were all abroad or in distant parts of the country. How great was her joy when a granddaughter who lived near brought her baby to see her and how much the visits of friends and neighbours from her village meant. At the same time another lady from a local family was nearing the end of her life in a nearby bed. Each time I went in, her husband, who visited daily and a son daughter or grandson was by her bed. What a difference it meant to her and to them to be able to give her that attention.

"The public transport from the villages to all the Bristol Hospitals is very poor and many elderly country people do not have cars. They need to rely on the kindness and availability of friends and neighbours or a voluntary scheme. Parking is extremely difficult compared with the ease of parking at Thornbury. In fact Bristol is a “foreign country” to many of them. I remember spending some time with a very confused elderly man in Blackberry Hill Hospital who was being visited by a rather nervous only sister. A kind, helpful nurse and social worker were trying to arrange a permanent home for him. Neither of them had any idea where his village was, in fact thinking it somewhere on the other side of Bristol!

"Please remember we are not dealing with statistics but vulnerable, frightened elderly men and women who need the love and attention of familiar people and surroundings.

"Please do all you can to save Grace Ward and the whole of Thornbury Hospital."

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