Family’s tribute to support stroke rehabilitation

A TRIBUTE has been paid to a well-known figure within NHS Dumfries and Galloway – with a donation in her memory now set to benefit patients for years to come.

Rosemary Macdonald sadly passed away on 19 December 2017, having played a key role in preparing for the migration from the former Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary to the new £212 million facility at Garroch Loaning.

Rosemary worked in Medical Records, and was a well-known and popular figure within NHS Dumfries and Galloway.

Explaining that money raised in Rosemary’s memory is now set to provide new rehabilitation equipment for DGRI’s Physiotherapy Department, her husband Donald said: “The equipment the money has purchased was part of the collection taken at my late wife Rosemary’s funeral service.

“Through a need to ensure that anything that was spent was used locally, I spoke to the Lead Physiotherapist – Stroke Rehabilitation Lynn Robertson and she was able to suggest appropriate equipment that she needed and would use in rehabilitation of stroke patients. These items were acquired through Dumfries Hospital’s League of Friends, which has enabled us to maximise the benefit with the sum of money involved.

“So this means with the £1000 which went towards equipment and another £600 that went towards the Troqueer Tuesday morning stroke group , that all monies from the service have been used and put to good use.

“I know personally there is no one treatment situation that suits everybody. My appreciation of stroke presentation is that it’s a very individual thing. This equipment lets the staff in the rehab team tailor interventions to individual needs when people are on the journey to recovery, and if we can just help in this way, it will benefit many people.”

Donald added: “I’ve been fortunate, and if we can help these people in any way – that’s what our children Kathryn, David and I wanted to do as a family, because the type of work Lynn and her team do is invaluable; not just from the physical side, but from a mental side as well.”

Speaking on behalf of the Physiotherapy Department, Lead Physiotherapist, Stroke Rehabilitation, Lynn Robertson has welcomed the very kind donation.

Lynn said: “There’s lots of equipment and techniques we can use in stroke rehabilitation but these are not always appropriate to every individual.

“Being able to pick the most appropriate equipment and techniques for individual patients at the right time and being able to have a number of different options, means we can really make the best of recovery and can put together the best rehabilitation programme for them.

“It means sometimes we can leave equipment in people’s rooms, where the practice and repetition will help the improvement and make it speedy and long-lasting.

“I feel overwhelmed, and quite emotional about this donation because I knew Donald and although I didn’t know Rosemary, I know quite a number of the stroke team did. I feel quite humbled that we’ve received this donation.”