We recently announced that the UHNM charity funded 32 new RITA devices for both Royal Stoke University Hospital and County Hospital in Stafford: Read here: Charity funds more RITA's at UHNM.
Having just delivered training we were thrilled to receive the following feedback from Rachel Willett from the Sleep and Ventilation Dept: (Tissues at the ready!)
"After the training I had on the RITA system, I couldn't wait to give it a try and start using it with the patients. When I 1st went across to visit ward 222 I noticed they hadn't got any RITAs and they were unsure as to what they actually were,. Upon hearing this I asked if we could get a RITA delivered to the ward before I went in for my shift, then to my surprise, when I arrived on shift so did RITA :)
I spent my time on 222 with a patient that had been given the devastating news that there was nothing more they could do except to make her comfortable. Upon hearing this, the patient was extremely anxious so I sat beside her with RITA and started to play some music. Bearing in mind the patient was born in 1960, I thought she might like something from the 70s/80s but this wasn't the case. So I asked her what kind of music she liked and to my surprise she said Stormzy! We both started laughing as Stormzy played on the ward and when the porter came in he joined in with the laughter and conversation... and within that moment it was almost as if everything else had been forgotten.
We then played a card game of higher and lower which brought on a conversation of when bruce Forsyth use to host the game show. After laughing at the music and being competitive with games we watched the lion king and the patient then started telling me about when she went on safari in Kenya. I stayed with the patient right up until her relatives arrived by which time she was feeling much more relaxed and less anxious and the family were extremely grateful for this. The Rita system really is amazing, the difference it made to that lady in a very anxious time was incredible and I will look forward to carrying on using RITA and helping patients and their families in difficult times. Thank You for giving me this opportunity!"
