CIBC Caribbean Shows Appreciation to A&E Staff 

Employees in the Accident and Emergency (A&E) Department of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) recently received a pleasant surprise when a team from CIBC Caribbean visited the hospital.

The team, comprising members of the Barbados Country Management Committee (CMC), led by Head of Country Victor Boyce, showed their appreciation for the work done by all the people who work in the A&E department.

“We wanted to celebrate World Health Day with you, but due to conflicting travel schedules, we couldn’t make it on the actual day, so we came a little later. Most of the time when contributions are made to the hospital, it is for equipment, but this time we wanted to recognise the hard work of the staff and say thank you to each member of the team in A&E for all the work that you do,” said Victor Boyce, as he presented baskets of chocolates and flowers to the Head of A&E Dr. Ann-Marie Cruikshank. 

He joked that each person would receive a small package of chocolate, some of which was dark chocolate which is considered healthy, in moderation. 

Dr. Cruikshank explained “Today was a good day, as we had some good news this morning. We have a colour-coded system for the department that ranges from green to orange to red to black (black being the worst). Today we were green and we are happy about that. It means that our balance between staff and patients is good.  When we have surges, especially in mass casualty situations or high sudden patient intake, we have to call out more staff, more doctors, and the balance may go off, but today is good.” 

She further explained that ‘event weekends’ (weekends where there are mass crowd party events) present other challenges, as often, people pay less attention to their health when they go out to party, so following the event, there is frequently a surge in A&E, as people turn up with their NCDs out of control. 

Addressing the small team assembled, Boyce added “We can’t imagine the amount of pressure that you all go through and the trauma that you must be experiencing daily, so that’s why we wanted to take the time to show our appreciation to you, to everyone, the orderlies, the nurses, the doctors, the admin staff… everybody, for what you do day in, day out…we know that you can’t do remote work or work from home, and that you have to show up every day and give 150%, so we wanted to honour you today.” 

In thanking the bank, Philanthropy Officer at the QEH Gay Howell expressed gratitude to the CIBC Caribbean team, stating ‘We have a terrific team in A&E and sometimes they don’t get a break with all the stabbings and gunshot patients that come in but we are grateful that you see us and we thank you for recognising, stopping and pausing your work to visit the staff here at A&E.” (PR)