Making space to talk for young adult cardiac patients in University Hospital of Wales
Kindre Morgan and Sarah Finch are two of the Adult Congenital Heart Disease specialist team in the Cardiothoracic Directorate of University Hospital of Wales.
They support a significant number of patients across South Wales via their outpatient clinics and in-hospital stays at University Hospital of Wales.
Kindre and Sarah explained: ‘It is important that we make space to support our patients and their families emotionally as well as clinically. Living with congenital heart disease can lead to some tough times and crises, and this takes an emotional toll on our patients.
We are delighted to receive support from Daring to Dream to trial a pilot scheme of vouchers for Aroma Coffee Shops and Ty Gegin restaurant. These will be used by a patient (or their family member) together with a member of staff, to leave the ward (or outpatient clinic) for a little while so that they can have a conversation together about the impact of their latest update or treatment.”
“Being the mum of Amy whilst she was in hospital, sometimes a good cup of tea or coffee and a chat is just what was needed. The chat could be about the weather or an update on Amy. However, that time off the ward for 10 minutes, or when waiting for Amy to come back from an operation, with a cup of coffee was very important self-care for me. Sometimes I just needed that 10 minutes, and with a good coffee, take a step back and the break made it easier for me to deal with the day ahead.” Hayley Penn, whose daughter Amy passed away in June 2021.
Amy inspired us to work together with her family and friends to hold Amy’s celebratory and fund raising ball in September 2022, raising funds to support the emotional health and well-being of young adult cardiac patients being treated by teams at University Hospital of Wales.
Daring to Dream wishes to thank Andrew Pritchard and the Catering Team at Cardiff and Vale University Health Board for their help in setting up this pilot project which supports the emotional health and wellbeing of patients.
