Two Merseyside hospitals have been awarded the Freedom of Knowsley in recognition of their efforts during the pandemic.
St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust received the award at a council meeting on Wednesday evening (March 17) to thank staff at Whiston and St Helens Hospitals for their work battling Covid-19.
The freedom of the borough is the highest award Knowsley Council can give and is meant to recognise “eminent services” to the borough.
Both hospitals have been stretched by the Covid-19 pandemic, with hundreds of extra patients being admitted during the peaks in April 2020 and January 2021.
Nominating the hospital staff for the award on Wednesday, council leader Graham Morgan said: “We are all aware of the terrible impact the Covid-19 pandemic has had on our communities over the past year.
“Without the incredible efforts, hard work and sacrifice of our NHS staff this could have been so much worse. Since last March, teams at St Helens and Whiston Hospitals have worked tirelessly to care for people when they’ve most needed that help.
“And I’m not just talking about people struck down by Covid-19, which in itself has been an achievement, I’m also talking about support for those with long-term illnesses like cancer, those needing treatment, surgery or rehabilitation, or mothers giving birth. The list goes on.
“St Helens and Knowsley Hospitals have delivered the best possible service to our communities and we are all immensely grateful.
“I hope that this honour demonstrates to all those at the hospital trust just how much their sacrifices and their exceptional and eminent service has meant to Knowsley Council and to Knowsley’s residents and goes some way to showing our appreciation.”
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This is only the seventh time the freedom of the borough has been awarded, with past recipients including former Huyton MP and prime minister Harold Wilson, Liverpool FC legend Steven Gerrard and the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment.
The proposal to award St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust the freedom of the borough was passed unanimously and once Covid restrictions are lifted, representatives from the trust will be invited to sign the borough’s roll of honour.
A similar proposal to grant the hospitals the Freedom of St Helens is set to be put forward next month.
