22 June 2021
Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust and Joint Hospital Group South East are celebrating a quarter of a century of partnership caring for patients and the local community.
The 25-year milestone was marked by thanking staff for their service and re-signing the military covenant at a special event in the grounds next to Frimley Park Hospital in Camberley, Surrey.
The event, attended by the Lord Lieutenant of Surrey, the commander of the Joint Hospital Group, Dale Daborn, Frimley Health chief executive Neil Dardis and several military healthcare professionals will celebrate the success of the partnership with tea and cake and a signing ceremony of the formal military agreement. All 250 military staff currently working at the hospital are also being awarded a commemorative badge to mark the special occasion.
Since 1996 more than a thousand armed forces staff have worked at the hospital across numerous departments - from paediatrics and patient safety, to A&E, infection control and intensive care. Many are serving personnel posted to the hospital to carry out their clinical work alongside their civilian colleagues. During their time at the hospital, they also fulfil their military commitments for training and are expected to take on extra military duties to prepare them for their future deployments. In addition to serving armed forces staff, Frimley Health also employs many retired military personnel and veterans who have taken up full time roles with the Trust.
The partnership was originally formed following the Strategic Defence Review in 1995 which saw the demise of the military hospitals such as the Cambridge Military Hospital at Aldershot and the inception of the Ministry of Defence Hospital units (MDHU), since renamed the Joint Hospital Group (JHG). Forces staff moved to Frimley Park as a separate unit, but within a few years the decision was made to integrate them throughout hospital services. The new partnership forged the way for collaborative working with military and civilian healthcare professionals across the spectrum.
Nursing officer, Nikki O’Donnell has served in the army for almost a decade and is currently on her second posting at the hospital’s emergency department. She initially came to the Trust in 2015 and returned a month before the pandemic struck, working throughout the challenges of Covid in both A&E and acute care.
Nikki said: “While there are many similarities in terms of the demands on nurses, the tempo is very different between a specific military hospital and an acute hospital serving an entire community. The experience has been invaluable working in a fast-paced emergency department where hundreds of daily patients are presenting with new symptoms and injuries. The skills we learn are ultimately transferrable, whether it is a military or civilian environment, the focus is on providing the best possible care regardless of who the patients are.”
Lieutenant Colonel Nnaemeka Okpala has served in the army for 20 years and joined the Trust as an ENT consultant just after he qualified. Nnaemeka has since become the Trust’s chief of service for specialist surgery and has also been on military tours to Northern Ireland and Iraq. As part of his role he has cared for service personnel from across the South of England, Cyprus and Gibraltar as well as hundreds of civilian patients from the local community.
Nnaemeka said: “I have the best of both worlds. We get so many opportunities to go on military exercises but I’m never away for more than two weeks so I can carry out my ongoing clinics with ENT patients. I’m extremely proud of my military background and the role we play within Frimley Health. The military ethos runs throughout the hospital and I think we’ve helped Frimley Park become what it is today - a CQC rated outstanding hospital.”
Speaking at the 25th anniversary event, Frimley Health’s chief executive Neil Dardis said: “As a Trust, one of our key values focuses on ‘Working Together’ and this approach is very much reflected is our partnership with the military. We have achieved so much together during the last 25 years, but perhaps more than ever during the last 18 months. The Covid pandemic has been a very different kind of battle and throughout we have stood shoulder to shoulder working through the peaks and intense challenges.
“Today it is a huge honour to re-sign the military covenant and to thank those who have served our local community with such dedication and hard work. We are so proud to support our Armed Forces community and colleagues and are deeply committed to upholding our pledges within the covenant. Long may our very successful partnership continue.”