The Duke of Cambridge Thanks Over 300 NHS Staff and Volunteers for Their Work Throughout the Pandemic

The Duke of Cambridge has spoken to more than 300 NHS staff, volunteers and leaders across the UK since the start of this year, January 2021, as part of a personal pledge to reach out to frontline workers to check in on their welfare and thank them for their exceptional work as they continue to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.

To everyone working across the NHS — thank you for all that you do 💙

Since January, Prince William has spoken to more than 300 NHS staff, volunteers and leaders throughout the UK, to check in on their welfare and thank them for their exceptional work: https://t.co/00r5UekKv7 pic.twitter.com/BC27b1o2Zs

— The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (@KensingtonRoyal) April 6, 2021

The Duke has made the calls to offer his thanks for their efforts and to hear about the challenges they have faced during the latest stage of the pandemic. He described the institution as “the most admired organisation around”.

The Duke of Cambridge speaks on the phone to members of the NHS’s workforce. © Kensington Palace

His Royal Highness has spoken to members of the NHS at every health board in Wales, every NHS Board in Scotland, every Health and Social Care Trust in Northern Ireland and every county in England. The conversations have taken place over the past three months and have included chats with hospital staff, GPs, pharmacists and volunteers as well as porters and cleaners, spanning the breadth of the NHS workforce across the UK.

William’s office said he wanted to check in on the wellbeing of all those supporting the NHS, and to thank them for the vital part they have played during the crisis.

The Duke of Cambridge speaks on the phone to members of the NHS’s workforce. © Kensington Palace

Prince William has had 62 phone calls to individuals, where he spoke to frontline workers in various healthcare settings, staff and volunteers administering the coronavirus vaccine and those in non-clinical roles, such as domestic services. He has also joined five regional meetings with CEOs and directors from National Health Service trusts and boards via video call to understand more about some of the local challenges their organizations have faced over the past year.

In 62 one to one calls and a range of wider group meetings, the Duke heard about the impact the pandemic has had on staff, their work and their own wellbeing. There has also been a focus on the vaccination programme in the UK which has so far seen over 30 million adults receive at least one jab. The Duke of Cambridge also took part in five regional meetings of directors from NHS Trusts and Boards to hear about the challenges they face on a local level.

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News of the Duke of Cambridge’s conversations with NHS workers follows his recent visits to vaccination centres including those at Westminster Abbey, King’s Lynn in Norfolk and an ambulance centre in Newham, east London.

Dr Thelma Craig, a respiratory consultant at the Mater Hospital, was contacted by the Duke of Cambridge © Sky News / PA

During one conversation, – made on 17 March with Dr. Thelma Craig, a Respiratory Consultant at Belfast’s Mater Hospital – Prince William offered his thanks for the ongoing work being done by the NHS, saying “I just want to say on behalf of everyone what a fantastic job you’ve done. You’ve all held it together and been absolutely wonderful people.

“It’s been a real team effort but we’re all very proud of you. The NHS has gone from already being much loved to probably the most admired organization around.

“Thank you so much for all your hard work.”

The Duke of Cambridge speaks to seven young environmentalists from the UN Environment Programme’s Young Champions of the Earth initiative to hear their perspectives on the environmental challenges facing our planet and the innovative solutions needed to address these issues | Picture: Kensington Palace

Last month, William had an emotional call with nurse Jenny Manson, 54, who formed a bubble with the family of a terminally ill girl to protect them from Covid-19 last summer.

Ms Manson, a community children’s nurse from Kirkcudbright in Dumfries and Galloway, told the duke how she had cared for nine-year-old Holly Clarke at her home.

It allowed Holly’s parents Richard and Stevie Clarke, her twin sister Becca and older sister Emily to spend their last precious months with her before her death in October.

The family nominated her in the Nurse of Year category of the Scottish Health Awards and she won, receiving her honour late last year.

Jenny Manson is a community children’s nurse © Mirror

The 54-year-old, a single mother herself to 16-year-old twin daughters, worked at the family’s home from May last year, to protect them from the risk of catching the virus.

Speaking about her call with William she said: “I’m just a little nurse who works in Scotland but for the duke to actually want to take time to talk to me it felt I was so privileged. I felt like my job and the role of the NHS was really being acknowledged. He was unbelievably genuine and sincere.”

She added: “He said as a father it made him feel quite emotional, the conversation we were having.

“He talked to me about when he was working as a helicopter pilot and how when he went to a child who had had a trauma or an accident that that used to be called really sad. He spoke about that a lot and he was just so sincere.”

The nurse went on to say: “He was really interested to know how I managed that situation and I told him that what I did was that I became part of that family’s bubble.

“I worked with them constantly really so it stopped other professionals having to go into the house, which the family really, really appreciated.”

In February, William spoke to Shamraze Zeb a practice manager at Black Country and West Birmingham Clinical Commissioning Group, who has been helping to manage the vaccine rollout across a Primary Care Network of nine GP practices.

The 41-year-old told the Duke how the team had set up pop-up clinics at local Mosques and Gurdwaras to tackle the problem of vaccine hesitancy in the area.

The practice manager said: “He asked me about the uptake in the mosque and how it went and I explained to him that we had patients that had declined previously, but they turned up at the mosque just because of public trust.”

He added: “We had a conversation about how he was aware of the vaccine hesitancy, but he was saying that the more factual information we can get out into the media and into different channels that will help the cause and he said that it was fantastic that me and my team are going out and doing these initiatives to increase the uptake.”

The Duke of Cambridge tested positive for coronavirus in April 2020, but he opted to keep the news from the public at the time. In light of the fact that his father Prince of Wales had contracted the virus shortly before his own diagnosis, William didn’t want to alarm the public any further with the news of him also falling ill.

William was seen by royal doctors at his country home, Anmer Hall, where he and his family have quarantined for most of the past year. The prince didn’t need to visit the hospital and neither his wife, Kate Middleton, nor their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis contracted the illness.