Good show of “camaraderie” among Orkney’s residential social care staff during wintry spell

Tributes have been paid to Orkney’s residential social care staff for the spirit of camaraderie shown during the recent wintry blast that badly affected parts of the county.

Staff - from managers to domestics, cooks to social care workers – rolled up their sleeves and assisted with whatever was required at the weekend when it became clear that some would have to remain at work while others would be housebound due to the severe snow drifts reaching 5ft in areas.

When news emerged of the closure of the main Kirkwall to Stromness road and that some colleagues would be unable to make it to work, Karl Kemp, from Stromness, who is a social care worker at Smiddybrae, made the decision that it was safer to stay at the Dounby residential care facility.

Despite the deteriorating conditions on Saturday morning Karl made the journey to work to carry out his general duties of assisting the residents with their day-to-day needs.

He explained that the weather began to close in further as the hours passed. “We watched as the wind increased and snow began drifting from the surrounding fields and across the road, past the windows – it was a complete whiteout.

“There were 4ft drifts against the wall and with some members of our night staff stranded and unable to get in I made the decision it was safer and would be helpful if I stayed at work. As it turned out, we managed to draft in some night staff that lived locally.”

Everyone played their part to ensure the 30 or so residents were looked after – and this was a picture echoed at other residential care facilities throughout the county.

“Our duty manager, Gordon Williamson, was in the laundry at one point helping out and myself and another member of staff, Linda Heddle, decided to share the night-shift. Everyone just pulled together – the camaraderie was brilliant. We knew we would all get through it if we worked together and we did.”

Karl said they ensured that the residents were shielded from the situation as much as possible.

“We did not want to worry them so as far as they saw everything went on as normal.”

Interim Head of Health and Community Care, Lynda Bradford, said: “We are incredibly proud of the willingness shown by our teams of staff across the board during the particularly challenging conditions last week and into the weekend.

“Many went above and beyond the call of duty to ensure that our service users received the excellent level of care they are used to. Orkney is known for its resilience and this was clearly shown by our workforce recently.

“We must also thank members of the public for their assistance – whether that was helping our OIC Roads Team to keep the roads as clear as was possible or using tractors and 4x4s to transport care workers to their work. It was a tremendous Team Orkney effort.”