Night Shift at the Gwent

Recently I had the opportunity to attend a ward walk with nursing staff at the Royal Gwent hospital which was organised by Unison.

Unison represents thousands of hospital staff across the country and wanted to give me a flavour of what their members experience at the Royal Gwent. I walked with staff for around four hours and spoke to patients in various wards having previously been to the Neo-natal ward at the hospital.

I’ve always had a strong appreciation for the work nurses do and this ward walk has just strengthened this view. I wanted to get a real feel of what it is like for staff working at the edge-face and I’m pleased I did it. If you want to know what is really happening in any organisation always speak to the staff on the frontline. I saw and heard about the pressures on staff, but I also witnessed the quite satisfaction staff got from helping people day-in, day-out. That was a truly humbling experience.

The staff and Unison were pleased I attended. Darron Dupre, regional organiser for Unison, said “In my time as a Unison organiser, I have never met an Assembly Member so interested in just listening to the experiences of staff and who committed so much time to do so. By staying with us until 11pm, Jayne deliberately gave her attention to the night shift at the Royal Gwent Hospital, the inspirational group of staff who are so often forgotten on such visits.”