Learning from the past year and hoping for a better future

On reflection, I feel that this has been one of the fastest moving years I have ever known. The whole COVID-19 situation and the subsequent national activity needed to deal with this global pandemic has been like a tornado entering our lives, causing chaos and harm and stirring up dust, which is only now gradually beginning to settle. This once-in-a-lifetime event has succeeded in reminding us that we are fragile and society needs to pause and take a breath before reassessing what our values and goals really are.

The ‘Wash hands. Cover face. Make space’ mantra continues to remind us of the personal responsibility we must all take if we are to beat this. I suspect this will stay with us and become the new ‘norm’.

The impact on our activities has resulted in a huge technical learning curve as we meet up using Zoom, Go To, Microsoft Teams and other platforms to enable us to continue to strive to provide care, push forward with our objectives and find new and innovative ways of working. I am sitting in my office with two computers open and an iPhone as a matter of course in my daily work life.