Prince William and Kate send haggis, neeps and tatties message to Scots health workers

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge treated NHS Tayside staff to a traditional Burns celebration lunch and thanked them for their tireless work.

In a video sent to a multi-disciplinary COVID-19 response team who work in the dedicated COVID-19 Intensive Care (ICU) and High Dependency (HDU) Units at Ninewell, William, 38 told staff: “Hello to everyone at NHS Tayside. We know Burns Night is a special evening for Scots around the world – a time to come together to eat, drink and to celebrate the life and work of Robert Burns.”

Kate, 39, who was dressed in a red tartan dress befitting of the occasion said: “Sadly this year is a little different. And for many of you working on the frontline, tonight will be a very different occasion, as you work tirelessly through this pandemic to protect the most vulnerable in our society.”

William continued: “We want to say a huge thank you for all of the work you are doing and the sacrifices you are making. As a token of our appreciation, we’ve teamed up with NHS Charities Together to provide you with a Haggis dinner.”

And Kate added: “We hope you enjoy it, and look forward to better times together soon.”

The Royal couple ended their message with Slàinte Mhath! which means good health in Scots gaelic.

Medical and nursing staff in ICU and HDU, as well as a radiographer, a physiotherapist, a domestic assistant and a renal technologist were treated to a traditional Burns celebration lunch of haggis, neeps and tatties, courtesy of Tayside Health Fund and NHS Charities Together, of which The Duke and Duchess are Patron.

Two hundred food boxes from local family business House of Bruar are also to be shared with hospital staff. In addition, Royal Warrant Holders Valvona & Crolla, and Fisher and Donaldson kindly donated Burns Biscuits and gift boxes to NHS Tayside staff to thank them for all they have been doing.

NHS Tayside employs 13,000 members of staff, who have been caring for patients from Angus, Dundee and Perth & Kinross in hospitals and communities throughout the pandemic.

In the past three weeks, the COVID-19 dedicated wards, Intensive Care Unit and High Dependency Unit have seen unprecedented numbers of patients with COVID-19, with the number of people being cared for in hospital increasing nearly four times over.

Grant Archibald, NHS Tayside Chief Executive, said: “Our staff have now been at the frontline in our response to COVID-19 for more than 300 days and their dedication has been truly awe-inspiring. It means so much to all of our teams across Angus, Dundee and Perth & Kinross to receive this special message of appreciation today which underlines the ongoing, extraordinary efforts of Team Tayside.”

Lorna Birse-Stewart, Chair of Tayside NHS Board, added: “On behalf of NHS Tayside and Tayside Health Fund I would like to take the opportunity to thank The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge for this wonderful gesture. It provides an opportunity for us to recognise some of the patient-facing and support staff across health and social care in Tayside who have demonstrated extraordinary commitment during these most challenging times.”