As death rates start to fall it is beginning to feel that we may be reaching the end of the coronavirus pandemic’s darkest days.
But the life-and-death struggle on our intensive care wards across the country is far from over.
Doctors and nurses still face a daily battle for the lives of patients with Covid-19 – a fight that will go on for days and weeks to come.
One of those on the front line is charge nurse Luke Sumner, 39, who has worked in intensive for almost 20 years.
He has always believed his job is not just to save lives but to make patients know they are immaculately cared for and important.
He says: “We don’t have patients: we have VIPs.
“We treat everyone exactly as we’d like our own family treated. We do our utmost to save everyone. But when we can’t, we do our utmost to make sure they are not in pain, not alone and are at peace.”
Luke also takes responsibility for morale of his 20-strong team at Blackpool hospital’s ICU. At the height of the crisis, the atmosphere at the start of each shift was heavy.
Stoic and positive Luke says: “We will beat Covid because we won’t stop. We won’t give up.”
But despite this admirable attitude, Luke, like most experienced professionals, has at times felt overwhelmed.
During a really busy shift, when two patients were coming to the end of their lives at the same time. Luke had to decide which one to comfort.
He says: “I knew one of the patients had some video calls from their family, so I contacted his family and gently told them he’d be passing away imminently.
“I propped up an iPad so his daughter could speak to him on FaceTime until the end. She was saying, ‘It’s OK Dad – you’ll soon be in heaven with Mum’. My goggles filled with tears.
“On the bed next to him, I sat with an elderly gentleman who was passing away and we didn’t have any family contacts for him.
“We never let anyone die alone. So I held his hand and told him how gorgeous the weather has been since lockdown, how the birds are singing louder, sunsets are more beautiful, skies are so clear and nice.”
This wonderful kindness and consideration is repeated by selfless doctors, nurses and care staff in packed intensive care units across Britain. Some of them, including Luke, appear on Wednesday in a Channel 4 documentary, NHS Heroes: Fighting to Save Our Lives.
Another hero medic who talks about her experiences is Dr Leigh-Anne Hill, 32, who was redeployed from general surgery to intensive care in a central London hospital.
She says: “I’m an emotional person and I put myself in the position of the families. And there have been a few drives home when I’ve had to let it all out. Sometimes relatives bring photographs they want to put by a patient’s bedside.
“Seeing them with their family brings it home how incredibly hard it is for them. But I like to reassure them their loved ones are not on their own.” Sadly, Leigh-Anne is alone after each shift tending for Covid patients. Her housemates moved out at the start of lockdown as their families thought Leigh-Anne was too great a risk.
“I started to feel no one wanted to come anywhere near me.” But she has been comforted in the thick of the fight. She says: “The thing that has really struck me is the gratitude from patients’ families, and everyone else.
“Free food from companies, thank you letters, 8pm claps. It’s really moving. I won’t forget that – it really touched me.”
For Dr Kiran Rahim, 34, a paediatric registrar in a London hospital who has been redeployed as a nursing assistant in ICU, coming home to her husband and young kids helps ease the rigours of a day.
Kiran says: “My kids are my distraction and I have a really great husband. My parents don’t live far away and deliver much-needed food. I’m terrified of picking something up and bringing it home to my family.
“But I’m one of the lucky ones because I have enough PPE for the most part.”
Kiran bonds with patients when she bathes them, brushes their teeth or shaves their faces.
She says: “I don’t know how to put into words how devastated I feel when we lose patients. It takes its toll on you. We lost one of our nursing colleagues. We knew he wasn’t going to make it but you hold your breath and pray with every ounce. I spend a lot of time in the hospital prayer room.
“The 8pm clap feels very emotional - really raw. I’m not sure if any of us are coping. I think we’ll all need time to process what we’re all going through.”
Despite the heartbreaking moments, these NHS Heroes will not be cowed, instead they fight on.
In Glasgow, former theatre staff nurse Jessica Head, 24, is adjusting to her new role as an ICU nurse and wearing PPE.
“Sometimes I want to come home and not talk about it at all. Sometimes I just want to cry and get it all off my chest.
“I feel sorry for my fiance Alex, he never knows what kind of mood to expect when I come in.
“Maybe I’m extra emotional because we had to cancel our wedding which was planned for April 4. I keep saying, ‘we can only do the best we can do’, and need to remind myself of that. It’s a hard time, but we’ll get through it. I know we will.”
- NHS Heroes: Fighting to Save Our Lives, Channel 4, Wednesday, 9pm.
