A Black Country rock legend has described community nurses as ‘unsung heroes’ after donating new equipment to one of the local NHS teams this week.

Robert Plant, front man of iconic rock band Led Zeppelin, has donated a new emergency lifting cushion to the Glades Neighbourhood Team in Wyre Forest. The cushion will support patients who have had a fall at home.

The Glades Neighbourhood Team is one of 13 integrated community nursing teams working across Worcestershire. Led by Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust and made up of nurses, therapists, social workers and GPs, they provide care and treatment in patients’ homes, reducing avoidable admissions to hospital by around 15 a day. Robert said:

“The Neighbourhood Teams do a really important job in supporting people to remain at home, avoiding hospital wherever possible.

“Community nurses and social care teams are real unsung heroes and over the last few months they have been on the front-line, in people’s homes, caring for some of the most vulnerable in our communities.

“I am pleased to be able to support the teams and want to help raise awareness of these amazing staff who don’t often get the praise they deserve.”

The cushion will be used by the Glades Neighbourhood Team which supports patients across Kidderminster and Hagley. Ruth Walmsley, Glades Neighbourhood Team Lead, added:

“This generous donation will mean so much to our patients as we will be able to respond in an urgent way to assist patients when they have fallen. Currently this requires a paramedic call-out as this is not equipment we have access to in the Neighbourhood Team.

“Having this equipment readily available will save the paramedics having to respond to these calls and free up their capacity for life threatening emergencies.”