The Princess of Wales News

@TeamQEH: We had a visit from @KensingtonRoyal yesterday to mark the NHS' 72nd birthday and to thank staff for all their efforts and hard work over the last few months. Here are some of the pictures for the visit. #QEH40

@JulieHS_Norfolk: Absolutely honoured to have been asked to attend the @TeamQEH afternoon tea today to celebrate the #NHS 72nd & QEH 40th birthday. To see @KensingtonRoyal was wonderful - they were so lovely, taking their time to speak to some of the guests who were on the front-line during Covid

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have praised staff at Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn NHS Foundation Trust (QEH) and thanked the local community for supporting the NHS as it has responded to COVID-19 during a special visit to the hospital today.

The Duke and Duchess met members of Team QEH who have made personal sacrifices and showed true dedication to their patients throughout the COVID-19 pandemic

Suzie Vaughan, an Operating Department Practitioner at QEH, who spent nine weeks apart from her children, was one of the guests from across the hospital and West Norfolk’s local community holding a socially distanced celebration following ‘saying thank you together’ clap to mark the NHS’s 72nd birthday.

The Royal couple met Suzie, whose video of her reunion with daughters Hettie, seven, and Bella, nine, became a social media phenomenon with more than 2.5 million views.

Suzie, who was with Hettie and Bella for the celebration, said: “It was a difficult decision but I wanted to keep the girls safe so they moved in with my sister.

“I worked on the COVID Intensive Treatment Unit and COVID Emergency Department during the pandemic. The past three months have been exhausting physically and emotionally and The Duke and Duchess’s visit is a recognition of the hard work and compassion  that everybody has put in to keep our patients safe.”

Staff across the Trust cared for more than 450 patients with COVID-19 in the first few months of the pandemic. 291 who tested positive for COVID, have since been discharged from QEH.

Frontline doctors and nurses, support teams and administration staff have all worked tirelessly to provide safe care for patients at the hospital. The site was split into zones to separate  COVID and suspected COVID patients from non-COVID patients, including creating an additional Emergency Department. New ways of working and technology were implemented at pace and staff were redeployed into new teams to support care.

Trust chairman, Professor Steve Barnett, said: “The past few months have been incredibly challenging for everyone at QEH, and for the wider NHS, as we have responded to this global pandemic.  I could not be more proud of how our staff have responded – always putting patients and their safety first.

“As the nation celebrates the NHS’s 72nd birthday and we mark our own hospital’s 40th anniversary, today’s visit by The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge is a testament to the high regard we all have for  those who care for us when we need it the most.

“Both our staff and the local community, who have given us so much support over the past few months, should be rightly proud of themselves. We have an incredibly special relationship with our local community in West Norfolk, and today’s clap was about saying thank you for the unrivalled support we have received in recent months, for which we could not be more grateful.”

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@TeamQEH: A great day to celebrate #NHS72 and our 40th anniversary month. Here’s a great selection of pictures of @KensingtonRoyal meeting some of our staff and local community.

As thousands of people all over the country paid tribute to the NHS this afternoon with a final round of applause of appreciation, Lynn's Queen Elizabeth Hospital got a very special visit when the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge came in person to say thanks to staff.

The founding of the NHS is dated to June 5, 1948, making this the 72nd anniversary.

In this tumultuous year Kate arrived wearing an appropriately coloured outfit, light blue, the colour of the National Health Service.

They were greeted by the chairman of the NHS trust Steve Barnett and Caroline Shaw, the hospital's chief executive officer.

Among the people they sat and talked to in the visit was Suzie Vaughan, the QEH member of staff who became an internet sensation and the face of the sacrifices made by workers when film of her greeting her two daughters after nine weeks away working on ICU, went viral across the world.

They also met other members of staff who have worked through the pandemic.

There have been a total of 147 deaths at the QEH of patients diagnosed with Covid-19.

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@laura_skaife: A memorable afternoon! On the day we all celebrate the #NHSBirthday - @TeamQEH gets a special visit from @KensingtonRoyal #ThankYouTogether #TeamQEH

@TeamQEH: #Covid19 survivor @SamGJude and @BlessyS19 share their experience of life during the pandemic during a special event to mark #QEH40 and the #NHSBirthday with Price William and Kate @KensingtonRoyal #ThankYouTogether

@TeamQEH: Will and Kate meet #TeamQEH’s Suzie Vaughan, who became an internet sensation #NHSHero after 9 weeks away from her daughters so she could care for COVID patients at our hospital #QEH40 @KensingtonRoyal #ThankYouTogether #NHSBirthday

@KensingtonRoyal: Whether you are existing staff, former staff members who came out of retirement, volunteers or key workers - we thank you for the resilience, perseverance and hope you’ve shown our nation.

@KensingtonRoyal: Today we mark the 72nd birthday of the NHS, in a year when it was needed more than ever as the nation responds to COVID-19. Today, The Duke and Duchess visited the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn to thank staff for their efforts in helping their community.

@RE_DailyMail: More from the hospital tea party attended by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge #NHSBirthday

@RE_DailyMail: William and Kate joined  a tea party to mark the occasion, which coincides with the hospital’s own 40th birthday.

@RE_DailyMail: This afternoon The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn to mark the NHS’s 72nd birthday, and to thank health and social care staff who are continuing to provide crucial support in the national response to Covid-19.

@PendleEducation

@KensingtonRoyal: “The whole country is proud of you, so thank you for everything you’re doing and all the hours you are putting in.” — The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to staff at Queen’s Hospital Burton and University Hospital Monklands. #clapforkeyworkers @UHDBTrust @UHMonklands

@UHDBTrust: Yesterday, staff at Queen’s Hospital Burton received a very special telephone call from Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge who offered their thanks to all of the teams across the #NHS and #TeamUHDB responding to the coronavirus outbreak.

@KensingtonRoyal: To all the doctors, nurses, carers, GPs, pharmacists, volunteers and other NHS staff working tirelessly to help those affected by #COVID19: thank you. #ClapForOurCarers #ClapForNHS