Chesterfield Royal Hospital's chief executive thanks staff working to tackle coronavirus

Angie Smithson praised people at the trust for ‘working really hard in exceptional circumstances’.

MORE: Chesterfield Royal Hospital issues statement after ‘wonderful’ Chesterfield woman died from coronavirus

She said: “I want to say a really big thank you to every member of my staff who is working above and beyond to make sure we keep our patients safe.

“In these unprecedented times of a pandemic, it’s really hard to keep going sometimes – and I’ve seen that every day, every hour, from staff in every single department.

“Our nurses, doctors, physios, midwives, therapists, support services – every single person who makes sure those teams can do their jobs every single day – are working really hard in exceptional circumstances so I’d like to say a big thank you from me, on behalf of the board, for everything you’re doing.

“Please make sure you keep yourselves safe, look after yourselves, and listen to the regular advice.

“Importantly, do lead by example – as we all do every day – with hand washing and looking after each other.

“The advice changes regularly so my best advice at the moment is to keep in touch with the briefings we’re sending out every day.

“If you’re concerned about anything, please speak to your line manager or someone in the organisation – don’t be afraid to talk to us, even more so in these difficult times.

“Thank you – and keep up the good work.”

MORE: Chesterfield Royal Hospital reveals how you can donate money to help staff and patients during the coronavirus crisis

A message from the editor

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.

Thank you

Nancy Fielder, editor