Sharing moments of happiness across the Addenbrooke’s Community
Taking Note was commissioned by Addenbrooke’s Arts with lottery funding in 2016. Further support has come from Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust in 2017. It has collected and shared over 100 ’stories’ from across the hospital community including patients, visitors and staff from over 27 different departments since March 2016. There were 3 pop-up events and two exhibitions in 2016. Stories have also been shared via the 38 patient information screens in Outpatients. Stories from the project will feature in exhibitions in the 2017 University of Cambridge Festival of Ideas and in the Hospital in November.
www.cambridgecandi.org.uk www.facebook.com/takingnoteaddenbrookes
17th March 2016
I smile when I’m dancing. A happy space for me is the dance floor. When I’m here in Addenbrookes I’m happy on a Friday when I’m dancing here with DanceMoves. Dancing allows me to be me, have no inhibitions, just be free. Darren, Healthcare assistant
17th March 2016
I had returned to my bed to discover it freshly made by one of the staff, and with my daughter’s bear (brought in by her to comfort me) settled in and enjoying the computer. It made me smile and the other ladies on the ward too, but also, I like to think, whoever set it up. Ruth, patient
17th March 2016
Swimming was one of the first things I did when I came home on weekend leave from Stoke Mandeville. I had to be there to learn how to cope without the use of my legs. It was summer two years ago. We would make a picnic and go down to Jesus Green pool on the Saturday. It made me feel things were still possible. I had said straight after the accident that I wasn’t going to give up these things, though it was totally different swimming without any legs. I first started swimming regularly when I was working as a nurse in Australia. I would start at 7 and finish at 3 and be knackered and swimming would totally revive me. It does revive me now but mostly when I swim I feel this immense sense of satisfaction and pleasure. Jesus Green Pool offers me a community. I love going down there, coming in and seeing that clear blue water and the trees and the smiley lifeguards. You always meet somebody you know and even if you don’t know them they will say hello. There’s something about swimming outside because you’re in touch with nature – you can see the sky and the trees. It’s very special. That feeling of water and gliding through – I love it. Rosie, former nurse and patient
20th March 2016
I was here for 3 and half months as a patient after I got knocked off my bike. I had to lie flat on my back as I’d broken it. After a month and 28 days I could sit in a wheelchair and my family took me out to the Jubilee Gardens. They had found out about it, I had no idea. It was such a peaceful space. I would see little flowers and growth. It made me very happy. It still makes me happy. Telling you this has reminded me to tell people about the garden more when I’m volunteering here. Mavis, volunteer
20th March 2016
Some of the people here are very smiley. There’s a tv that tells everyone’s names. To distract myself I’m thinking about playing with my friends when I get back to school and doing the things that I couldn’t do. I’ve actually been to hospital before – to check my legs and CT scans. I need to go again here in Cambridge just to check that my limp is getting better. The only thing I’m worried about is if they say that my limp is getting worse which they won’t because I can walk and when I was in hospital in Wales I couldn’t walk and now I can nearly run and I can jump fine.
Freya, age 6, patient
20th March 2016
My daughters have been looking after me so tenderly this afternoon. I’ve got three and they sat round the bed together after I came out of theatre and did my nails for me. They had lots of different colours to choose from and we decided on odd colours for the toes and the fingers - but we had to leave one nail for the nurse to do the monitoring on. Ruth, patient
21st March 2016
A happy space for me is being in our garden, doing Chi Gung exercises, it’s a nice space. Moniek, volunteer
21st March 2016
A smile on a young face is my moment I want to share with you from today. I work as a volunteer in A & E and you see all sorts. The thing that really struck me this morning was this 17 year old girl who had come in having taken an overdose. I really wanted to help her. I just said ‘you need some TLC [tender loving care] don’t you.’ She gave me a big smile. There’s not much I can do but I was glad that I helped her smile. John, volunteer
22nd March 2016
This is a 1930s Phinney-Walker Travel Alarm Clock which is a joy in itself, but let me just draw your attention to the styling on the hour hand which really makes it stand out as a 1930s model... Sometimes pleasure is in the detail. It sits on my desk and makes me smile. Keeps good time too! Neil, Taking Note administrator
22nd March 2016
Happy, I think is being with the patients, talking to them and listening to their stories, and really helping them and seeing their smiles. I’ve worked in engineering all my life and I never really liked it. I love this job. I get in trouble sometimes for talking for too long. Kevin, Healthcare assistant
Yesterday I saw how a student nurse helped a patient by going to sit with her in recovery. The patient was quite a young girl with a very complex condition and yet most of her worries had been about how much hair we might need to remove. The operation went very well, though it took some time. The student nurse - she is going to nursing school soon – decided to go to the patient in recovery and take the time to reassure her. She sat with her and told her that we’d not taken much hair and that her eye was back to normal. Nothing we had done helped the patient as much as she did by doing that. She’s not a recovery nurse – her role was to help with instruments etc - but she went out to recovery to do this. I will not forget that. I like my job. Neurosurgery has everything – it has surgical and scientific parts but also the human part. For me, I also feel happy when I think about the trainees I’ve worked with; most of them by now are consultants, some are working here. They are very very good - better than me. We have 3 operating rooms in neurosurgery away from the other operating theatres. We operate at same time and when we are stuck with something we can call to each other to come and help and hear another opinion. R, Surgeon
23rd March 2016
24th March 2016
I often go up to the ninth floor and when I get out of the lift, I try to remember to look out. It’s a building site but you can see right across open fields. I don’t mind that it’s a building site, I sometimes think about the people who are up working in the cranes. I find it refreshing… the contact with the outside. There's no view from the wards on the ground floor and I laugh with the patients up on the ninth floor about their penthouse views and what the rent in Cambridge would be for a view like this. Denise, teacher
25th March 2016
My favourite bit of the day is standing on my doorstep, sometimes still in my dressing gown, and watching Eve go off to school. I watch her all the way to the end of the street. Sometimes she waves and gives me a kiss. I feel really privileged to have this opportunity every day before I make my way to my desk here. Sam, Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust
25th March 2016
Sarah and I both volunteer in the hospital. Sarah’s been helping in the Royal Voluntary Services’ coffee shop for 10 years now. We drive in together and tend not to chat much in the car, but when we get to Outpatients, we always have a hug - a special moment before we go our independent ways. I often notice how it makes people smile when they see us! Susan, volunteer
26th March 2016
Today I smiled when I came into the chapel and saw the tablecloth and cushions arranged and looking glorious. It makes me very happy to make things, cutting, sewing and having fun with the imagery. Patsy, Taking Note Artist
27th March 2016
I think the real trick actually is recognising a happy moment - we’re so busy busy busy, we can walk straight past a really lovely one. I think we need to slow down just a little bit more and be more aware. Stephen, patient
29th March 2016
A while ago now we had to track down a lego-man that a little boy had lost whilst he was on the ward. His parents had taken him on a special holiday to Legoland and he’d chosen this man but then he lost it whilst he was here. We had a phone call to say perhaps it had gone down the laundry shoot but it didn’t appear. We phoned the factory in Leicester but they didn’t find it either. Then 3 weeks later, I was about to throw the paper with the phone number away when we got a phone call from the factory to say they’d found it. The little figure had gone all the way there and they sent it back for us. That was a very happy moment.
Allison and Beth (sisters), Laundry
30th March 2016
I have a little woodpecker who comes into my garden every year. It delights me. Yesterday was mine and my husband’s anniversary and I was feeling low but I saw my woodpecker. It was very special. It was wonderful to watch him delve around and be so busy. Bernadette, volunteer
31st March 2016
I help as a chaplaincy volunteer and I went on the wards this morning as usual. When I came out there was a lady I’ve known for years who was here to visit someone but was really struggling with the staff as it wasn’t visiting time. I was able to step in and say I could go and visit him for her. There are ups and downs here all the time but that was definitely an up moment. Barry, volunteer
2nd April 2016
I suppose for me personally, dancing make me happy; it's my happy place. It’s where, no matter whatever else is happening in the world - put that music on, start moving those feet and that’s my space, my time. And by bringing that into the hospital... There was one moment when we were working with a gentleman who had very little movement at all, and he could flicker his eyelids and he could do a thumbs up sign, and that was about all. And we brought him in and as we were moving, as we were playing the music, and it was just this smile, that came over his face, and his eyes lit up, and it was just the most amazing moment. Just to see how happy he was even though his whole life had changed for him. In that time, with that music on, having that contact with other humans, other people, in a relaxing environment, just made him smile. And I think that smile was worth everything. Debbie, nurse
3rd April 2016
One of my special moments each day is when my youngest son gives me a 20 second hug. I forget all the challenging moments. His affection overwhelms me‌. that he remembers and wants to do this. Mel, support services
4th April 2016
I swim at the Frank Lea – it’s a great space. I love being in water. If I were choosing a sound then it would be water too – it’s just so restorative for me. You can thrash around or meditate or do what you want – it’s a really good space to work something out. This is quite a stressy environment so I find I really respond to the unclutteredness of water. I like the greens and natural light and natural sounds. Debbie, Chaplaincy team
5th April 2016
This picture is my favourite in the hospital archive. It’s of the matron’s sitting room in around 1900. The room is here in the hospital but it could be any Edwardian sitting room. It’s this bit over here that I especially like with the cake stand set up for afternoon tea. It’s wonderful. Hilary, archivist
6th April 2016
I always have a little chuckle as I read this on my way to the toilets. Damian, Arts Programme
8th April 2016
I know this view very well. I work with stroke patients as a speech therapist. I took up a patient up there to show her the yellow fields full of rape seed. She couldn’t talk but I wanted to show her big spaces and colours. Gilla, Speech Therapist
9th April 2016
I’ve literally just had a chat with a very frail old man about steam engines. I almost walked by as I wasn’t sure he would want to talk but he caught my eye and we started chatting about his magazine. It had a picture of a steam engine on it. He started telling me about working as a water boy on a farm and how he used to fill the engines up. They had four steam engines to look after. It was only a moment but his eyes lit up. Seeing him remembering with fondness a happy time in his past, made me happy sharing it with him. Rose, volunteer
13th April 2016
I see very elderly patients as a chaplaincy volunteer. One day I went in to visit a chap who said ‘you people always find me’. Then he announced he was going to sing me a hymn which he did, very loudly – the first two verses of 'There is a green hill far away'. In return he asked me to say a prayer. The following week he sang me the next two verses. It turned out he’d been a choir boy once. Jeannie, volunteer
15th April 2016
Seeing the smile at the end of the shift, or seeing the patient enjoying something they are doing, that’s what make me feel happy, because its very hard to be in hospital. Maria
16th April 2016
A friend of mine gave me this necklace as she said it was my colours. They really are. This is a remarkable place. Everyone can make a difference here. As a volunteer I want to help patients feel relaxed and comfortable. The chapel is like a haven in here – a quiet space where you can be still. It’s there for everyone. There’s peace here. It’s vital that everyone can meet here. Judy, volunteer
20th April 2016
Sometimes just going home and listening to my children, whatever it is they can be talking about, makes me happy. It’s still nice to be bought back into normal life because hospital life is very different- whether being a patient or working in a hospital, it is a community in itself and sometimes you can get very embroiled in that community and forget about the outside world. Getting home is about getting out of hospital mode, and becoming the mum and listening to my daughters. Cooking together, I love to cook together. Debbie, nurse
21st April 2016
I cycled to hospital really early on a morning like this just over a year ago. It was a glorious morning and I knew I wouldn’t be outside again for at least a couple of days. I had to have a brain operation again. The last time I had to be in here for 10 days and I had really missed the fresh air so I wanted to remember feeling the wind and sun on my skin. Ruth, patient
22nd April 2016
Cycling here this morning I saw the cows back again on Midsummer Common. This always makes me laugh as they take no notice of the cyclists and just amble all over the place. Tom, visitor
2nd May 2016
Being supported with cuddles from staff whilst being given life changing challenges. Seeing wonderful staff everyday, sitting in the sun. Rachel, patient
4th May 2016
I've got a dog and I walk out in the woods. The greens are really green... I'm doing this mindfulness book and it has really changed things for me and I sleep so much better. As a nurse I go up and down to the 7th and 8th floors and I always stop to look out. I saw that someone has already talked about that experience to you. Sarah, nurse
5th May 2016
My family (Pop up 1)
6th May 2016
Lunch break and the 'tae’ (Pop up 1)
8th May 2016
This is not such a happy time. I am visiting my elderly father and we are spending quiet time remembering things we did together. It makes him smile. I remembered when I ran the marathon and he was there and it started to snow. John (shared at our first pop-up event)
10th May 2016
My Taking Note moment from today was seeing cow parsley in the hedge row as I walked here. It reminds me of getting married in May nearly 25 years ago. My mum filled our house with huge bunches. Ruth (shared at our first pop-up event)
10th May 2016
I am 100 years old. I feel blessed. My life has been long and on the whole very interesting. I’ve had the opportunity to experience many parts of the world, some wonderful music and people.
Joyce, patient
11th May 2016
I lived in Stratford on Avon. I was a dancer and we used to meet the dancers who were visiting the town. We used to drink in a pub called the Black Swan – which we all called the Dirty Duck. They all had stories, I remember drinking with Rudolf Nureyev. He was very temperamental but he could tell funny stories. We told some naughty stories! He used to like Bison Vodka which only comes from Poland and the USA. Russell, patient
12th May 2016
I've spent many times in my life saying 'You can't be happy all the time.' It all comes down to fancy. Being happy is not so much about happiness but satisfaction. The idea of a family - that is happiness. A nice sunny day, saying hello, good morning - these are important. Its hard to think of one moment of happiness, which makes me think that it is happening all the time! As I've got older I've tried to make myself enjoy life everyday. I didn't get to travel out of Britain - I would have liked to have seen Spain, and Germany before the war and Russia and China. Phyllis, patient (talking with Susanne Jasilek)
13th May 2016
I didn't marry as I knew I always had to be in charge! I trained as a teacher but my first teaching job was before this when I was 19. I looked much younger than my years and the school thought I was a pupil, there were pupils there of 17. I walked into the classroom in 1948 and I was introduced - 'Children this is your new teacher' and then I was left to get on with it. A class of about 30 between 4 and 17 years of age. I asked other staff what they did and they said scripture and reading books so I thought I could do that. I loved it and the children and the parents. I have 3 great nieces, 5 great great nieces and 7 great great nephews. They are my greatest joy. I don’t think I could be any happier. Norah, patient
13th May 2016
I like going out window shopping. I don’t have to buy I like just looking at things. My husband doesn’t understand it. That’s my little thing that makes me happy. It’s relaxing. It’s therapeutic for me. That my ME time. I look forward to my ME time. Ruthie, nurse
14th May 2016
I've been here 15 years. I've met someone who remembered seeing Queen Victoria passing by. Each person has a lovely story. In an open bay with 6 beds sometimes the patients start talking and sharing their stories together. People have big histories. I was trained in the 70's - I'm in my 60's now. One of my instructors said - 'nurses have an angel on their head'. Coorban, Health care assistant
15th May 2016
I did so want a boy and I had one. It was at home. I had all my 5 babies at home. I bet you don’t go home with a dry eye. Happiness can be heart-breaking.
Betty, patient
16th May 2016
It was seeing my granddaughters after I’d been in a coma. They talked to me and got me to talk. They put perfume on my pillow. It made me so happy to know they’d helped me to speak again.
I will have been married 58 years soon and my husband still has a sense of humour. Annie, patient
18th May 2016
Dancing 4 times a week is on my mind. I’m 93 now but in my mind I can still tap the steps. We went to one club one night then another club the next night. Saturday night was the big night. We used to come from Gamlingay to Cambridge for that. We’ve been to Sawston, to Homerton, we’ve been all over Cambridge. I think this view is worth having – over to the Magog Hills. Write ‘keep on dancing’ on your trolley for me. Lucy, patient
19th May 2016
A little while ago they bought in a machine that helped me stand up. It felt really good. I couldn’t do it on my own. It made me feel good to be in a standing position. I thought to myself as soon as I can I’m going to do some more of this. I’ve been coming outside to this garden for the last 3 days there is different scenery and different noises. I feel the fresh air and am not stuck in my room doing nothing. This cherry tree is right by my window.
David, patient
20th May 2016
I’m thinking of when I go to the coast – to Sheringham. I used to live there with my aunt and uncle and I still go back. It’s very nostalgic. I used to watch the fisherman come in every day. They don’t do that any more. I went there three months ago just before I came in here. I loved the sunset. It was my husband’s favourite view. I had a picture made of it which I’ve got at home. Yvonne, patient
21st May 2016
I have 117 cards. I’ve put them up in each of the rooms I’ve been in. This was my husband’s – we put it on his order of service. Yvonne, patient
23rd May 2016
When my Grandad comes to visit me, he tells me jokes what are too rude to mention! Joe, patient (11)
24th May 2016
The giggle doctors make me happy because they try to make cool things like alien spiders but it always ends up failing. Sophie, patient (10)
25th May 2016
I like playing video games that the play nurses give to me. It stops me getting bored. Jacob, patient (9)
26th May 2016
I like playing the instruments in music.
Ice cream. Owen, patient (6)
27th May 2016
I'm mostly happy when my friends and family come to visit in hospital. When they make funny jokes and me giggle. It keeps me entertained when we go to Burger King. Louise, patient (10)
28th May 2016
I like playing hide and seek with the student nurses. Serenity, patient (7)
30th May 2016
Anyone who comes along here to say hello makes me very grateful. I am Palestinian and my husband is Iraqi. We were in Syria. When I see what is happening in Iraq it hurts my heart. Mariam, patient (talking with Susanne Jasilek at second pop-up event)
1st June 2016
I have to regularly visit the Vasculitis and Eye clinics here at Addenbrookes and often I have to bring one or other of my young daughters with me. It is a long day and they are very patient and the staff here are very kind. I like to think about the happy moments with my daughters. Here we've been painting in the garden. It was a sunny, funny, happy moment. Joanna, patient
2nd June 2016
What I really love about coming here is how much the kids love anything you can do for them. It’s their smiley faces when they’ve got pumps, drips, tubes and more attached to them – it’s just amazing. Amanda (Pilgrim Crew)
3rd June 2016
Watching my children discover something new. It’s so lovely to watch. The sheer wonder and look on their face. Blowing dandelions is what she's just discovered. Wendy, parent
4th June 2016
For me, its sitting in the sun. I’m always happy. I’m a happy-go-lucky person. I’ve always been like this. I get up in the morning and off I go. I don’t have many sad days. Karen (Craig's mum)
Wednesday is a highlight of my week at school because I get to work with the site team - I don’t have to be in school uniform and I have no lessons. I feel happy and proud to be trusted. Craig, patient (14)
5th June 2016
9th June 2016
For me a lot of happiness comes through music. For families who are going through very stressful situations the music always makes a difference. The music takes them away from what they're going through. A parent said to me 'that's the first time I've seen my child smile for a long time'. Music just lifts people. It can really change your mood. Clare, staff
11th June 2016
I have a photo of my favourite view on my office wall – it helps me remember there is a world outside the hospital. I found a beautiful new walk around a field and back. I forgot all about work for an hour. Sophie, staff
12th June 2016
That’s our favourite part of the day - our strolls. Because we’re stuck in side. I do love being with my friends. It makes me happy just reading these. Safaa and Lin, staff
14th June 2016
Taking our patients and families from C9 punting in the the Cambridge sunshine. TYA [Teenage and Young Adult] team at the Oasis
15th June 2016
Walking my dog at 5.30am and the sun rising and a new day beginning. I’ve been working here 25 years and never been allowed to write on the windows before. Rachelle, staff
18th June 2016
A happy moment is the first time my daughter walked outside. We took her to the Botanical Gardens and put her down on a big rug. She was was already speaking a few words. She looked really really happy looking around her on the large lawn and then said 'big green mat'. She got up and walked - the first time ever outside - and she just shot off fast until she tumbled into a flowerbed. She 16 now and doing her GCSE's. I feel this is quite a happy day. It's the first time I've cycled in in just a t-shirt. I am at a computer all day and sometimes the day flows and sometimes not. Today it’s all gone ‌ well no, I'm going off for a swim. Paul, staff
19th June 2016
I love phlebotomy. I am doing my training now. Anything gory doesn't bother me. My happy moment was at the Rosie when I delivered my own grand-daughter literally. I told the midwife I wanted to be hands-on. When it got to the birth the baby got into distress - the umbilical cord was around the babies head - the midwife had to remove it and I took the baby's head and delivered it. My son cut the cord. Chris, student
21st June 2016
It's great in here, they really look after you. I come from Ely and I have 14 grandchildren. 3 years ago I went on a cruise to Spain. I loved the way the water comes out at the back of the ship - the wash. Phyllis, patient
24th June 2016
A happy moment is anticipating the exciting new green space, the Circus, which will be created at the heart of the Campus when the major building works for AZ and Papworth are completed. Megan, staff
24th June 2016
I walk past your exhibition every day. It makes me smile. I like the simple things - the personal moments - like the picture of the hug and the mother watching her daughter go off to school. It's just so human. You feel you are in their personal moments. Keep doing it. It's really special.
Diane (Specialist Nurse)
13th July 2016
Notes in Cloth of pockets
13th July 2016
I don’t like hospital environments, and after an episode at A&E in early Feb this year, I briefly passed out, probably due to heat and stress. My sister, a GP, suggested that I simply needed to become more familiar with the environment – something I didn’t intend doing anytime soon. However the opportunity came in May, when a friend Bob went to Addenbrooke’s for a major operation. He was likely to be in for some weeks, and I decided to try to visit him every other day, if possible. On one of the early visits when I’d walk to the ward with a little trepidation, I spotted the Taking Note exhibition on the arts space in a main corridor. Each time I passed, I read a different story - about a smile, a hug, the scent of summer, a laugh with a stranger and so on. What struck me powerfully is the choice we all have to reframe our experience, however difficult, and notice the positives. I tried to do this on my visits, giving less attention to the bewildering equipment, catheters and intravenous ghastliness, and instead focused on the signs of deep and loving care in a frontier where several people were balanced between life and death. Bob’s condition was very complex. Not only his health, but his whole wellbeing is fragile, and we have regularly talked about the Taking Note initiative. Each visit, we would both try to notice something tangibly positive – the feeling of warm sunshine on the skin, an overheard anecdote that makes us laugh; a lilting Irish accent reminding him of travels, and so on. The Taking Note exhibition was intriguing but not intrusive, just there for us to be drawn in by curiosity or not. No pressure – simple but powerful stories that made us think; and left us with a choice about what we dwell on. It has been humbling how Bob, whose health has slowly deteriorated further, has somehow taken heart in small blessings. I guess it’s easy to do this walking by a babbling stream, but less so if you’re dying on ward L4. That’s why we need exhibitions like these. Alasdair, visitor
15th July 2016
I just love the fact that after a 12.5 hour shift I arrive home and put my baby on my lap and smell that baby smell from his hair. The skin is so nice to touch. I love to put my lips to his head. It it is very relaxing. It makes me forget all the sad things I see on the shifts sometimes. Joao, nurse
29th July 2016
This note has taken a while to reach us - posted via a garden at the hospital on the 13th May. Thank you Barbara.
24th August 2016
(1/2) The first moment that came into my mind when I heard about Taking Note was from the end of the conference we ran this May in El Salvador. I remember it like a moment in a film. A group of head nurses from a small hospital in the west of the county surrounded me and nearly squashed me with their hugs. I felt like a football player in the middle. They were just so excited at what they had heard us talk about. It was a beautiful moment. It warmed my heart. The Addenbrooke's Abroad programme with the hospitals in this country has existed now for ten years. We are trying to improve outcomes for mothers and babies, particularly to reduce the mortality rate. That of course is a huge project. Our focus has been to show how to work as a team as we know this makes the outcomes better for everyone. So we go as a multi-disciplinary team from the Rosie with midwives, a neonatal nurse, a GP, an anaesthetist and an obstetrician and we run conferences where we try to demonstrate how we work together. We are trying to change something subtle and to build up new attitudes. You can only do it by demonstrating it. You need the whole team there so that everyone can see both the verbal and non-verbal ways of communicating we use within our team. Also the audience can see our link to them and how we involve them so that we begin to create larger teams. These discussion platforms are very unusual there. We are bringing a different culture of work but in subtle ways so that they are at ease to take it on.
24th August 2016
This is particularly a task for the nurses there – we need to encourage them to be confident enough to challenge colleagues and have more self-belief. It was such a beautiful moment for me when I saw how this group of head nurses from Metapan Hospital, far in the west of the country, really understood this. That’s what I want to give people – the confidence that they can be good in what they are doing. Hannah, Obstetrics and Fetal Maternal Medicine Consultant
25th August 2016
(2/2) Another Taking Note moment for me – again I see it like a film – is from the first conference we ran in 2006 at the national maternity hospital in El Salvador. We were all in a lecture theatre. We were listening to the national anthem. It was quite chaotic. There were maybe 200 people. I noticed a very small woman at the front. I didn’t know her but she took the microphone and organised the whole room. I thought this was fascinating – how did she do it? She impressed me enormously. She was very clear and determined and she did it with a smile. It was so nice. I decided then that I needed to get to know her. Now Xochitl and me are best friends. She leads the programme there with Addenbrooke's Abroad– she is the most heroic woman I know.
Hannah, Obstetrics and Fetal Maternal Medicine Consultant
26th August 2016
(1/2) I am just back from a 9 month period of volunteer leave organised by Addenbrooke's Abroad. I went to Myanmar (Burma) to support the Cambridge Yangon Trauma Intervention Project. The capital city Yangon has the highest rate of road accidents and in the world and lots of work accidents due to lack of safety measures so there are many, many trauma patients. Health care there is so different from Addenbrooke’s and the UK. I went there naively on my own, not speaking any Burmese, but the people of Myanmar are very, very kind and keen to interact with a 'foreigner'. It took some getting used to being treated like a local celebrity. I’d arrive in the hospital or university and someone would just come and find me and help.
26th August 2016
One moment that I especially remember was during the water festival called Thingyan. I had got to know a young girl called Thida who had a little streetfood stall at the entrance to my compound. Every morning we would try to talk to each other. Actually it was usually lots and lots of body language. She would always try to give me food – sometimes hot milk or a little curry. Seeing her always gave me a lovely warm feeling. During the water festival I was actually a bit scared. There were huge water canons everywhere and I wasn’t sure how wet I might be going to get. One canon was on a platform opposite Thida’s stall and that morning I was walking round the back of it so I didn’t get fired on but then I heard someone running up behind me. It was Thida and she tipped a bucket over my head. It was gentle but fun too and I felt really included in the festival. Maggs, Trauma and Orthopaedic Nurse
28th August 2016
(2/2) The wards in the hospital in Yangon (Burma) are very open – there are up to 200 patients all with their families caring for them so that might mean there are 600 people in there. Here we might have 25 patients in the same sort of space. Patients’ family members are caring for their needs, providing blankets and preparing food with no privacy. Its chaotic and there is even some wildlife too. Most wards have a resident cat to deal with any stray rats or pigeons. They’re really trying to improve things and make it better though. Whenever I went onto a ward I would get almost mobbed by the nurses. They’d all get out their tiffin boxes and give me some of their food – it felt like force feeding at times. I would take in biscuits in exchange – as much like ones from home as possible. I spent lots of my time going on about Scotland. I’m very patriotic and proud of my country. When I would talk to them about the patient journey and how we might improve it, I would start with my own journey from Glasgow to Cambridge to Yangon but I could see they didn’t know Glasgow was a place or Scotland a country. I was always drawing maps. Then I realised that they all knew the term ‘GCS’ – the Glasgow Coma Scale - it’s a worldwide measure of consciousness. You could see the penny drop always once I explained that that’s where I came from. Maggs, Trauma and Orthopaedic Nurse
27th August 2016
(2/2) The wards in the hospital in Yangon (Burma) are very open – there are up to 200 patients all with their families caring for them so that might mean there are 600 people in there. Here we might have 25 patients in the same sort of space. Patients’ family members are caring for their needs, providing blankets and preparing food with no privacy. Its chaotic and there is even some wildlife too. Most wards have a resident cat to deal with any stray rats or pigeons. They’re really trying to improve things and make it better though. Whenever I went onto a ward I would get almost mobbed by the nurses. They’d all get out their tiffin boxes and give me some of their food – it felt like force feeding at times. I would take in biscuits in exchange – as much like ones from home as possible. I spent lots of my time going on about Scotland. I’m very patriotic and proud of my country. When I would talk to them about the patient journey and how we might improve it, I would start with my own journey from Glasgow to Cambridge to Yangon but I could see they didn’t know Glasgow was a place or Scotland a country. I was always drawing maps. Then I realised that they all knew the term ‘GCS’ – the Glasgow Coma Scale it’s a worldwide measure of consciousness. You could see the penny drop always once I explained that that’s where I came from. Maggs, Trauma and Orthopaedic Nurse
28th August 2016
(1/2) I’m a transfusion specialist and recently spent 10 days in Yangon General Hospital in Myanmar. The conditions were dire you know – it was 43 degrees, sweat dripped off you constantly - and they were working with techniques that were outdated when I started training back in 1975. There are two taking note moments in particular from this trip that I’d like to share. As I said the lab had no equipment – the fridge was the only technology in the room, no computers anywhere. I was sitting with the team trying to create forms that would make things easier for them. Sweat was dripping off my chin. Then my colleague Ian came in and said Roche (a pharmaceuticals company) had agreed to donate two PCs. At first the staff didn’t get it but when I said ‘A computer, we’ve got you two computers’ we all started to dance and hug each other. Addenbrooke's Abroad had organised the trip. I was with my colleague Ian who had already been out to install some biochemistry analysers and also Maggs, a nurse, who had been there a while. It really meant we could hit the ground running and begin to make real steps to improve quality. My report has already started to be implemented. Allan, Transfusion Specialist Lead for the Pathology Partnership
30th August 2016
(2/2) The other moment from working with Yangon Hospital with Addenbrooke's Abroad is about this lovely lady Thida Moe. One of her jobs was pushing a trolley load of blood in packs for transfusing to people. It weighed 80kg and she had to get it up and down a dirt track full of holes. At one point she had to make the trolley do a wheelie to get it over a metal barrier which sat about 6 inches off the ground. It was quite spectacular. She actually thought she was the least qualified person and we wouldn’t want her in our photos. Once I noticed she had gone to hide behind the fridge when Mel was taking our team photo but I was like ‘what are you doing, you’ve got to be right here in the middle’. She was so delighted. Allan, Transfusion Specialist Lead for the Pathology Partnership
31th August 2016
During my visit to Yangon General Hospital in Myanmar, I was filming a Junior Consultant who was being interviewed about a patient currently on the Critical Care Unit. As the story unfolded I found it very emotional. It was very hot and very humid and I felt as though I was melting in the heat. I suddenly felt a gentle constant breeze. I continued to look down my video camera’s view finder to film the interview and just assumed that someone had switched on a fan. Once I had finished, I glanced over and saw a very smiley lovely lady (Sister Thida Swe) fanning me with a Burmese fan. I was overwhelmed as the interview took a few minutes and I couldn’t believe how long she had been there quietly fanning me. She then went away and came back with an ice cold electrolyte drink for us. I was overwhelmed by the kindness of the Myanmar staff.
Mel, medical photographer
1st September 2016
When I’m at home in Suffolk, we live opposite a river. There’s this little spot you climb down, by the river. I sit there a lot. You climb down a riggety-raggety bridge; we call it the troll bridge. One of my friends named it. I spend most of the days there in the summer. It’s really peaceful. You’ve got all the birds. Its good to think down there. You’re logical down there. You put your brain on down there. It’s where I find my back-tonormal after a long hospital stay.
Esme (talking with Filipa at a Taking Note pop-up event)
8th November 2016
Joao told a story about his baby Oliver and this featured in our exhibition. Here he is showing Oliver their story.
1st December 2016
During my recent 6 week stay I was lucky to see three trees out of the window. This view helped to keep my spirits up. Doctors and ward staff were very good, but you only saw them briefly. The contrasting colours of the leaves‌. their shimmering in the wind and their gleaming undersides when they were caught by the sun all cheered me up. There was a sense of movement that was important. Allan, patient
14th December 2016
I’m studying to be a nurse at Addenbrooke’s at the moment and I’m on the staff bank. I have to go to my lectures at Anglia Ruskin University so this means I walk through Cambridge a lot. I love walking, and using my phone to capture particular moments makes me look differently. It feels a bit like meditating as I’m actively looking for things. I was actually born in Addenbrooke’s. I’ve been away but now have come back and am engaged and think I will stay here. I really love it.
This man was sat on a bollard outside the hospital entrance. It had been raining and there was that lovely earthy smell. Everything was still wet and the reflection of the trees just perfect. Plus I really liked his shoes. I took the picture of the cow as I really love how they just roam around. The cyclists had to stop and edge their way round this one. Katt, trainee nurse
16th March 2017
I never get bored of these. They’re so interesting. I love how they stand out. Polly (16), Active Board Representative
17th March 2017
I used to really like coming to see this swirly thing when I used to come in for my operations. It was really big and not like anything I saw in my real life. Paris (16), Active Board Representative
18th March 2017
I went out at 6am in the morning and got back at 9 - me and my brothers on our bikes. We saw the sunrise on the hills and fields near where I live. It makes you feel different in the morning. I felt more awake like I’d been in the shower. Matthew (13), Active Board Representative
22nd March 2017
This is my ledge. I come out here every day. I sit just here and watch people going this way and that way. Only for 4 or 5 minutes. I get a bit of vitamin D. Just getting in the daylight I find really relaxing. I work in the basement so it's nice to come upstairs. Lynne, Patient Experience Representative
23rd March 2017
I go as a volunteer to the care home at the top of my road. Lots of the ladies I talk to have dementia. When I started I was way too shy - I think a lot of conversations were about the weather! Now I know them better. Sometimes I read short stories or we play bingo or other games. I really liked hearing about Taking Note when you came to meet the ACTIVE board and I wanted to try reading them out to the ladies. I had such positive feedback. It kind of sparked conversations. They started talking about their lives. Sometimes the short stories go on too long but these were short and snappy so I think stuck with them more. I especially remember the one about the lady in the Jubilee Garden. We talked a lot about that one. One lady told us about how much she had loved playing outside with her siblings. I think it gave them something they could relate to.
Eesha (16), ACTIVE Board representative
28th March 2017
I took this on my last day at Bradwell-on-sea. It’s where I went with National Citizenship Service. You’ve got the moors behind and the boats in the bay and the sea all around. It makes me feel relaxed. I will definitely go back. Ava Alice (16), Active Board Representative
11th April 2017
I wanted to wear the cloak because I saw one in the museum. It reminded me of 'Call the midwife'. We went downstairs with Hilary to try one on. It felt warm and comfy. I wanted to take it home. I was surprised by how big it was. It made me feel like a nurse‌‌it was a good feeling. Chloe (18), Young Carer
12th April 2017
Going downstairs to the archive where no one else gets to go was great. We put on the old nurses uniforms and we were swirling….it made us think of 'Call the midwife'. It’s something you can’t do every day. Lucy (12) and Chloe (16), Young Carers
13th April 2017
I’d noticed the old fashioned photo in the museum and the beard. I’d finished doing a charcoal drawing and I was ripping up the paper – browns and grey and green – to try to make the beard. It was good to be able to do something creative and what I want for once – not having to do what other people need. I started it off after we came back from lunch and kept going for two and a half hours. I really like art. At times I’ve spent 6/7 hours drawing and not noticed the time. Alice (21), Young Carer
14th April 2017
I really liked seeing everybody here and eating lunch with them. Some of us go to school together but I’ve met new people too. When I was down in the archives I saw a prosthetic arm and other bits. It looked fun and I tried to make my own and then I went into the corridor and got reactions from people. I was wearing a prosthetic arm and leg. People were a bit confused and said 'what’s going on'. JP (12), Young Carer
15th April 2017
Wearing the cloak was a once in a lifetime experience. Not many people get down there (to the archive). It’s very fascinating to me – I’m a history geek. I’d like to work down there. It would be very cold though. I enjoy finding out the history of people and places….I’d like to find out more about how they helped people in the healing process. Xanthe (14), Young Carer
29th September 2017
We’re going to keep these poem pills and read them again. I love button poems. This is my favourite at the moment: My depression is a shape shifter One days is as small as a fire-fly In the palm of a bear... The next it’s the bear On those days I play dead until the bear leaves me alone. Autumn (patient) and Rahma On National Poetry Day
28th September 2017
Hospital Haiku for National Poetry Day (28th September 2017)
Daily injections Walking better – time with mum Bitter Medicine by Luke (15), patient (image: poetic pills from Emergency Poet)
3rd October 2017
I just came here to do my shopping today - I needed some chicken, eggs and tea bags - and this just happened. It’s been wonderful. I had no idea what to expect but I just love poetry so I visited the emergency poet and now I’ve had my lunch here so I could come to the reading too. First of all Deb (the Emergency Poet) had me lie down on a bed which was very nice. She asked me some questions about what I was going through and why I might need emergency treatment. She really put me in the mood and then gave me poetry about letting go and loving myself. I shall read them many times I’ve no doubt. I still haven’t managed to do my shopping yet and I’ve been here two hours. Sabrina (house-sitting locally)
4th October 2017
I was just visiting my mother and it's quite emotional...she is nearly 97 and this is her second admission in a fortnight. Having something like this is just so peaceful. I’ve told my mother about the poems and I will come tomorrow and read them to her. The Emergency Poet prescribed a poem for just my situation. I was feeling quite stressed and now I feel a lot calmer. I shall keep reading these over the years. Jane (visitor)
It was good fun. (The emergency poet) said this one was ideal for me. Arthur (volunteer) A man filled with the gladness of living Put his keys on the table, Put flowers in a copper bowl there. He put his eggs and milk on the table. He put there the light that came in through the window, Sounds of a bicycle, sound of a spinning wheel. The softness of bread and weather he put there. On the table the man put Things that happened in his mind. What he wanted to do in life, He put that there. Those he loved, those he didn't love, The man put them on the table too. Extract from The Table by Edip Cansever
5th October 2017
6th October 2017
I’ve been working with Deb (the emergency poet) as her ‘nurse verse’ today but I trained here as a nurse myself years ago. I’m being the able assistant helping people see where they might access poetry and giving them permission to visit Deb. I notice some people do sidle up. I try to listen to what they have to say. There is this universal need for something for the soul and I’m noticing more and more how you can find it in poetry. I’ve been exploring this for 13 years. It’s about the connections. I was part of a really interesting conversation between a consultant and student earlier. Poetry is a leveller. Everyone is equally frightened. Sue (Nurse Verse for Emergency Poet)
7th October 2017
This has lifted me for a moment. I’ve spent most of my life inside and don’t really read poetry but I’m going to look at these when I get home. Jason (patient)
10th October 2017
I wouldn’t normally use the main entrance at the hospital but I had seen a notice about National Poetry Day on the screen in the oncology waiting room. I had a couple of appointments that day and knew I would have a gap.
I was given the Clive James postcard and there was a nice synergy as he was a lawyer by training and so am I. There was poetry around when I was growing up - my mother read poetry to us as kids and now she has lost her sight it has been reversed and I am reading to her. The Emergency Poet invitation really gripped my imagination. I appreciated her very carefully crafted questions – it enabled you to say as much or as little as you wanted to and that was very important. I chose to view it as a patient currently going through chemotherapy. I am only part way through a very long haul. When I left last Thursday I had the antiemetics prescribed by my oncologist and the poems prescribed by Deb. She gave me 5. She also asked me my drink of choice – normally this would be a glass of wine or malt whisky but chemo plays havoc with flavour so at the moment it is ginger cordial. Deb has written on the poems ‘To be taken with a ginger cordial, sit outside and listen for a new sound’. In fact on Saturday the weather was lovely so I took the poems and the cordial for walk to just off the Icknield Way which is near me. This a photo I took there this time last year. The poems came with me yesterday to chemo; and I will file them in my medical file so I can bring them in and out as I choose.
It was a delightful experience and was just at the right time. Elizabeth (patient)
21th November 2017
I was born in Scotland and brought up there until I was 10. I used to see a lot of snow. We moved to Cambridge when my eldest son was a few months old and our second son was born in the Rosie. When they were five I bought a toboggan, looking forward to blissful winter days sliding down the Gog Magog Hills in the snow. It hardly then snowed for years. In desperation at the first snow we marched up the Hills with the toboggan. It was bitter and there was hardly any snow. My sons have hardly forgiven me! And the backdrop was Addenbrooke’s and the Rosie; smaller then than it is now, but still big. Dr Mike More (Chair, Cambridge University Hospitals)