Reasons to be thankful. The blue and yellow spring flowers in my garden are especially poignant just now, basking in the warmth of the same sun that we share with Ukraine. It is in disbelief and horror that I have watched the accounts of hospitals under attack. An attack on innocents and those who care is an attack on all of us who are part of the global healthcare family.
This week has seen memorial services and reflections marking the 2 years since, with the rest of the unprepared world, we adapted to the challenges of the pandemic. Over these 2 years, many of us have struggled to cope with the distancing, disruption and persistent duration of the pandemic.
Yet it has brought out the best of some of us too, not least the amazing clinical skills team, who adapted their teaching and turned up, day in day out, before vaccination was possible to ensure vital training continued.
Likewise, many of you have gone the extra mile with academic and personal achievements and it has been wonderful to be able to celebrate some of that with the award of our School Prizes and to formally celebrate the degrees that were hard won by your colleagues in the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021.
The pandemic isn’t over (whatever certain members of Government may say), yet it does feel time to move our thinking forwards, to the multitude of career opportunities that lie ahead and the preparation for these that is supported by electives, and to celebrate and recognise the value that each and every individual brings to the future of healthcare and the vibrancy of our community.
Indeed, what better tonic could we have just now than an Artefacts Musical. See you there!