Dawn and Maisie
Dawn and Maisie first met each other in 2009 when they both worked on a Learning Disability Partnership Board. They have known each other for 11 years and have been friends since they stopped working together.
Maisie and Dawn speak on the phone regularly and usually go out for meals and Maisie stays at Dawns house. Two years ago Maisie had a surprise 50th birthday party at Dawns house with all of her friends.
“Since lockdown, it has been hard because we have not been able to see each other. Maisie’s mobile phone has broken so we can’t do video chats but we do talk on a landline phone every 2 days” says Dawn.
“Maisie lives with a family in a shared lives service and her supporters have been great in passing on photos for Maisie to see – we have sent pictures of people and pets.”
Last weekend, Dawn surprised Maisie by turning up and they went for a walk together whilst keeping apart – it was hard not to have a hug but great to see each other even thought it was raining.
Maisie says friendship is really important and although she misses Dawn and her other friends now she knows she will be able to see them in the future and do lots of fun things together.
Ingrid Barker, Chair at Gloucestershire Health and Care
I’ve been working from home for over three months now with lots of time spent on the computer and doing meetings by video conference. I really miss seeing my colleagues. What keeps me going is spending time with my husband, daughter and Zoom calls with my other daughter and her husband. I also enjoy spending time with my animals. In particular it’s great to spend time with my new puppy. Being at home to play, train and walk him is such a pleasure!
Dr Jarvis
The last few weeks have been strange for everyone. We have totally changed the way that we are working, speaking to everyone on the phone, and then seeing some people on video. We have been seeing only a few patients in surgery, although are now gradually seeing more, and we are only visiting people who are very unwell at home. We are trying to stay away from people! I have just restarted annual health checks, but this will be an assessment of pre-health-check questionnaires, then phone or video calls, and maybe seeing some people in surgery or at home. We can still manage a lot of problems this way. We are also wearing masks and gloves when we see people – this can be a bit unusual, but it’s to keep everyone safe.
