It has been a while since we have done one of these, and wow has a whole lot happened since!! We thought we’d give you a little insight into what has been happening during the last year for us without mentioning the C word, which has taken over all our lives this past year.
Life before the first lockdown seems so long away for us all. Little did we know what was about to happen and how much it would change all our lives. As soon as the first lockdown was announced, we were in the same boat as everyone (and I’m not talking about the toilet roll situation). We found ourselves being in a very difficult situation of What do we do? Can we stay open? This alongside the initial shortage of PPE, it was a very strange and testing time.
As a clinic we were permitted to still be open, however we were only permitted to see emergency patients. And so we did for a few months. Going from being jam packed week on week to seeing 4 or 5 patients a week was definitely a strange experience, but also one which was rewarding knowing during very difficult and unprecedented times, we could still help out the community where we could. Taking every measure possible to protect our patients and ourselves from the spread of the virus was also a big challenge, but a necessity we had to and continue to do.
Once through the first lockdown and adjusting to new rules and regulations, we have been permitted to stay open and see all patients throughout the second and third lockdowns. So, for now, work carries on as usual for us.
Throughout all of this we have also moved premises! We opened our new clinic in November 2020. We are delighted now to be fully settled in our new home. We have had such amazing feedback on our new clinic and we are delighted that our patients are just as pleased with it as we are. Full credit to Brian who managed to build our new place in such a short time frame. We all know within our family if Brian is put under time pressure he excels, and completing this during the most challenging time was no different. Pressure creates diamonds!! For all those that don’t know where we are, we have moved just around the corner to number 2 Piggottshill Lane.
In addition, we are soon to have an Audiologist working within our clinic. We are looking forward to another health service working within our community and wish them all the very best. If you want to find out more information about them, please go to: https://www.naturalhearing.co.uk/
On a rather sad note, in September we lost someone very dear to us. Our close family friend Rodney passed away. He is the inspiration behind why Kelly turned to Podiatry and without him there wouldn’t be a Southdown Podiatry Clinic. Rodney is someone we miss profoundly, someone who brought so much happiness, joy and laughter to our family. He has gone far too young but will always be with us, every day, and we will continue to work in his memory. Life isn’t the same without him here and has left a big hole in our lives.
Moving on, one of our podiatrists Kay who some of you may have seen is now no longer working with us. We like to thank her for everything she has done for us for the time she was here and wish her good luck on her next adventure whatever that may be. We are now looking for a new podiatrist to join our team. Hopefully this won’t be too far away so we can ease the workload on our current two podiatrists, which in turn will allow us to see all of you a lot sooner than we can at the moment.
With the vaccination programme and people seemingly more confident to come out, we are now very busy. Which has its good sides and bad sides. We would love to see as many patients as possible, however with limited staff and time in the day we can only do so much. Like all them graphs we have seen on the telly over the past year, our appointment availability will soon level out over time.
Good times are not too far away, and we all deserve to celebrate in one way or another. Whether it be seeing and hugging loved ones, to socialising with friends, to going to the pub or for me personally getting back into football stadiums. This has been something that we have never experienced before and hopefully never will again.
Thank you to the NHS, key workers and all the volunteers during this period. Another thank you to all our patients for being so understanding given the climate we have found ourselves in. The power of community really shone through over the past year and I hope this can be a positive we can all take into the future.
#staysafe
