JVT thanks ULHT

Professor Jonathan Van-Tam who grew up in Boston, took time out of his busy schedule to return to his home county to officially open a new gastroenterology day case suite on Dixon Ward.

United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust Chief Executive, Andrew Morgan, said: “This has been an amazing opportunity for our gastroenterology team to talk to Professor Van-Tam and show him how they have not only managed to achieve a £1million transformation of their ward during the pandemic, but also how they have created a new gastroenterology day case suite which will benefit so many of our patients.”

Well-known for his footballing analogies during the daily TV press conferences during Covid lockdown, Professor Van-Tam was also shown around the hospital’s new purpose-built urgent treatment centre which opened earlier this month where he met staff from Lincolnshire Community Health Services (LCHS) NHS Trust.

He also got to visit a new £2million specialist respiratory unit that is being built to help treat patients with COVID-19 and other respiratory conditions.

Professor Van-Tam told staff: “Thank you for everything you have done during the COVID pandemic. It has been so difficult and so challenging and this is something you will remember for the rest of your careers. We now have a big job on to get the country back to normal and the health service back to normal and you are still a very vital part of that and so good luck and thank you again.”

Andrew added: “It has been great for our teams to welcome Professor Van-Tam back to the hospital where he worked and trained as a junior doctor.

“We were able to show him some of the multi-million pound improvements we have made on the site in response to the COVID-19 pandemic that will provide the best possible environments for our teams to treat patients, both now and in the future.”