Black History Month: Black NHS workers going above and beyond

Alvina Ware UNISON member Alvina Ware (pictured above) is a clinical practice support worker at the Royal United Hospital (RUH) in Bath. Over the past two years, Alvina has transformed hair and skincare for Black patients at the hospital. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Alvina began to notice that elderly Black patients on her ward weren’t getting the skincare and haircare they needed – and set about to change that. She explained: “Culturally it’s so important for our hair and skin to be oiled. Skin is the biggest organ in the body, and usually when a Black elderly person is in hospital, their family will come and take care of them, bringing moisturiser and doing their hair.” During lockdown, when family visits were banned, started bringing her own products from home to make sure that Black elderly people in her ward were taken care of. “I kept seeing people who were Black, sick or dying and when their family members weren’t able to come in due to lockdown, who didn’t have the right products for their hair and skin. I knew their families at home would be so upset if they knew their hair wasn’t right and they didn’t have what they needed for their skin.” “I remember seeing a Black gentleman in one of the bays who had really dry legs, but no moisturiser, and the shops were shut because of lockdown. I asked him what cream he usually uses at home and he said Palmers, which I had in my bag. I decanted it into a bottle for him. He was so happy.” This was a l...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - Category: Food Science Authors: Tags: Article Black history month Black workers health workers Source Type: news