Victoria Beckham boosts morale at Caithness General Hospital
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Staff at Caithness General Hospital were given a morale-booster when Victoria Beckham called to speak to them on FaceTime.
The clip was posted on Instagram at the weekend and has had well over 1.4 million views and generated more than 1000 comments.
Asking the staff at the Wick hospital how they were doing, the fashion designer and former Spice Girl said: "I hope you are feeling the love that the whole country is giving you. Every time I watch the video of everybody clapping I get emotional."
Doctor Hina Jamall, who is providing cover for two weeks locally due to staff shortages along with her husband Danish Humayon, also a doctor, explained that the call was arranged through a friend of a friend who works for Victoria Beckham.
She said: "The phone call helped – it really did boost morale. It is good to see people are supporting us."
Dr Jamall, her husband and another two doctors who recently started at Caithness General are seen in the video along with local nursing staff.
The temporary doctors are helping out wherever needed at the hospital, which can mean working in different specialities, including A&E, the medical ward and Covid-19 ward.
Dr Jamall, who usually works in obstetrics and gynaecology at a hospital in Tunbridge Wells, said: "This was supposed to be my annual leave – I was due to be at a wedding."
When the wedding had to be postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak the couple thought they might as well help out where needed and made their first trip to Scotland.
Commenting on how the staff were coping, she said: "I think everyone is a bit worried, but we are trying to do the best we can. I think the hardest bit is being away from family.
"Everyone is supporting each other at work, so that is quite nice. The infection unit is already full – when we first started it was the calm before the storm."
She went on to say that the whole community had shown support with donations of food as well as the provision of free accommodation for medical staff trying to isolate themselves.
Comments made by other staff members following the video call included "this really lifted our spirits", "the support was amazing" and "great to see that even celebrities like Victoria Beckham can take time out to understand what we are going through and support us".
At the end of the video link call, Victoria Beckham told the staff at Caithness General: "Thank you so much again for everything you are doing. I just feel very humbled to be talking to you."
When sharing the video on Instagram on Saturday she commented: "Yesterday I had the humbling opportunity to speak to an NHS team in Scotland. Please have a look and listen to what they are saying.
"They are so inspiring and we all need to do our part in staying home and helping these incredible workers and their colleagues on the frontline x VB."
Last week she spoke to nurses at King's Hospital, London, on FaceTime along with her eight-year-old daughter Harper.
On Thursday, the Beckhams were among the stars joining in the nationwide applause for the NHS and key workers.
