STAFF at the Royal Berkshire Hospital (RBH) have launched a series of information videos in a range of languages to tackle people’s fears about attending appointments during the coronavirus pandemic.
Launched on Tuesday, the films see staff talk in their native languages to encourage people to visit hospital for appointments and treatments.
So far, four of the videos –in Polish, Nepalese, Portuguese and Swahili – have been released on YouTube, with Arabic and Punjabi being added to the list.
The hospital says that the aim of the videos is to try and combat people’s reluctance to visit hospitals because of the coronavirus.
They see staff members outline the measures being taken to keep people safe when they enter the hospital, including one-way systems, face masks and social distancing.
Nicky Lloyd, acting chief executive of the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust which runs the Reading-based healthcare centre, said: “Our teams have worked incredibly hard to resume services that were put on hold as we tackled the pandemic.
“In addition, we’ve put in place very stringent infection control and health and safety measures to keep the public, and our staff, safe.”
Mrs Lloyd said that it is vitally important that people attend hospital appointments, despite the coronavirus pandemic, so that any healthcare issues can be dealt with swiftly before becoming more serious.
“There is obviously a backlog of work that’s built up during Covid and we are doing all we can to manage this,” she added.
“We do need the cooperation of our local communities in helping us to stay on top of our waiting lists and keep everyone safe and well.”
The videos will be available on the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust website: www.royalberkshire.nhs.uk
