HOSPITAL staff at Wrexham Maelor have made a video message to make sure the public are doing their part in the fight against the coronavirus.

The video, produced by Gemma Price in the hospital's pharmacy department, sees staff at the Maelor use the words of poet Matt Kelly to urge the people of Wrexham to remain at home and limit the COVID-19 virus from spreading.

The poem, which is spoken by staff at the hospital in the video piece, pays tribute to NHS staff on the frontline comparing them to 'a powerful army' that are 'armed just with a mask' as they fight this virus with their 'hearts and brains'.

Julie Paton, dispensary manager at the hospital's pharmacy department, told the Leader how the video was made to show that the pharmacy is just one of many teams at the hospital that are working relentlessly to serve the community as best they can.

The Leader:

Wrexham Maelor pharmacy staff each read lines from the poem in the video 

She said: "We wanted Wrexham to know that we are there with them and are doing everything that we can as an entire hospital team, not just here in the pharmacy.

"We are proud to work for Wrexham Hospital and we want people to know that we've got this and that everyone can help us by doing their bit and staying at home and keeping safe whilst we keep things moving here."

Julie explains that they wanted the video to be a bit emotive and give a little insight into the hard work going on in just one department of the hospital.

She added: "There are lots of videos out there already across the country and we wanted people to know, here in Wrexham, that this war against the virus is being beaten bit by bit and we all need to do our part - no matter how small it may seem.

"Some of our staff are frontline - not all - but we are all there supporting the frontline doctors and nurses. Everyone is important across the board. Every role is vital in supporting another and everyone plays their part to ensure the teams on the frontline of this virus have everything that they need.

"Sometimes, the pharmacy department is not forefront in everybody's mind. We are certainly not forgotten but we are not forefront like doctors and nurses, but the pharmacists and the technicians do go onto the critical wards, so they are just as vital."

Julie went on to say she hopes the public see from the video that the pharmacy team is doing their bit to support the frontline staff and ensure they have what they need to beat the virus, and that the team is very proud to be there for Wrexham.

She said: "Most of us on the team all live in Wrexham, so we want to do our community proud in this crisis and let them know we will help each other get through this together.

"We are proud to be from Wrexham, we are proud to represent this hospital and we want all our residents to do their bit and stay at home."

The dispensary manager also spoke to the Leader about how the pharmacy team has been preparing for the strain on the health service across the board that is expected to come with the pandemic.

She said: "We don't just serve the Maelor, we serve all our smaller community hospitals as well. We need to get as much medication ready so it can be pre-labelled and moved as quickly as possible.

"We feel we are as prepared as we ever can be for this pandemic. We have worked relentlessly for the last few weeks and we are as ready as we can be. We've got this!"