Coronavirus diary, Tuesday 9 February 2021

I had.a trip out today. The first for two months. In a taxi. It was bitterly cold - two degrees and threatening to snow. I was muffled up in overcoat, hat and scarf but it was still an adventure. There were people out there, lots of them, far more than I expected in lockdown and the roads were busy. Someone is keeping Wales going,

It took less than ten minutes before we drove into the, to me, familiar hospital grounds. In some ways, too familiar. 

The official opening brochure, WHRI, February 1999

All but a few of those were happy occasions. One was a reception to mark the tenth anniversary of the opening of the Sir Geraint Evans Wales Heart Research Institute. The handsome building is as impressive as it is important in the world of medicine.

I was pleased to be there among the heart specialists and my former colleagues, members of the eponymously named charity that raised millions to build and fit out the institute.

Sir Geraint did not live to see his dream come true but Lady Brenda was there and she gave a short, moving speech.

Another memorable visit was to the Noah’s Ark children’s hospital, another result of years of fundraising

One of my Penarth neighbours, Eddie Rabaiotti, a well known restaurant owner and member of the Variety Club of Great Britain, one of its tireless members. They were forerunners of the one man ‘charity’, Captain Sir Tom Moore.

My other visits, dozens of them over the years, were usually more worrying affairs, appointments in clinics, often taking what seemed like hours to get into the disabled parking. My latest visit was four months ago, when I spent three weeks there recovering from coronavirus.

The saddest day was two years ago when my son and I were called from home to hear that Rosemary, my wife, had died. 

Hospitals and the men and women who work in them are a key element in our lives. Invaluable, usually life saving, but hospitals are best avoided if possible.

The huge, sprawling, Heath hospital - officially the University Hospital of Wales - is fifty years old this year. 

I remember the opening in November 1971.  I was working for the Cardiff city council and was involved in the arrangements. 

A neighbour of my family in Penarth, William Jeffcott, the hospital board chairman, welcomed the Queen who performed the official opening. To mark the day, my son Robert, then aged eight, had a school trip by bus to see the hospital and travel on Eastern Avenue, opened the same day. 

The 1,000 bed hospital, the first in Britain to include a medical and dental school, still has some years to run but a new hospital is planned to replace it.

As the taxi brought me back to my new home I realised how grateful we are for those who look after our health all our lives and are now busier than ever, due to coronavirus.