A very cold collection

Once again, we braved the elements to do a collection outside the local farm shop for CHSW. It rained. It was cold. And it was windy. After 6 hours collecting, we were very cold, but it was worthwhile as we raised just over £200 for CHSW.

Infection Prevention and Control

There's been a lot in the news about bacterial resistance to antibiotics - how this is increasing and new antibiotics aren't being developed quickly enough. I had the opportunity to spend some time this week with the Head of Infection Control at Musgrove Park Hospital. Big improvements have been made there in the number of MRSA infections, where they haven't had a case in over 700 days! Also, in C Difficile and Norovirus, there are decreasing numbers of cases. We talked about the importance of the right antibiotic prescribing in preventing C Diff and quick identification of patients with symptoms to allow early isolation. I read recently in New Scientist that it only takes 18 cells of Norovirus to cause an infection, so you can see why it is so contagious and difficult to control in hospital and care-home environments.

Easter Bonnets at Rowden House

Recently, I went to Rowden House (after being unable to the week before due to Norovirus) and we got there just in time to see their Easter Bonnet parade. The staff invited all of the residents to the dining room, where I was playing my saxophone, playing some hymns that I had been practising specifically for Easter. Whilst it took them a while to congregate in the dining room (about 45 minutes!), a quick quiz all about Frome began, which no-one seemed to know any of the answers to due to the ridiculousness of the questions! After the quiz, the judging of the Easter bonnets began! All of the residents had already made their bonnets with their entertainer, although some had to swap owing to the size of their hats. In the end, the best bonnet won first place, but we were unsure about the following ones! It was really nice to see the effort that had gone into it, and the fun that all of the residents seemed to be having.

One of my favourite residents (Doreen) and I

First and Fourth prize winners!