NHS staff who risked their lives on the front line during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic will get a record £3million package to protect their mental health.
Many who worked round the clock during the crisis were left stressed, anxious, exhausted and at risk of post-traumatic stress disorder due to the toll it took on them and their families.
And as some of those heroes tell of their ordeals today, senior radiographer Funke Bella of Newham University Hospital, East London, reveals: “I took my stress home with me.
“I felt so overwhelmed and emotionally low. It broke me a little bit.”
Now, 24,000 staff at five London hospitals under Barts Health NHS Trust will be given long-term support from in-house clinical psychologists.
The cash comes from funds raised by Barts Charity’s Covid Emergency Appeal.
It is the largest award ever given by a charity to aid NHS staff’s mental health.
At the pandemic’s peak, over 400 staff at Barts Health NHS Trust were off work with confirmed cases – and four died after contracting the disease.
Medics are anticipating a second wave of the virus coinciding with the winter flu season and fear that without help they will struggle to cope mentally.
Rachel Simkiss, consultant clinical psychologist at Barts, said: “Covid has placed unparalleled pressure on staff.
“Our colleagues have done an amazing job saving lives and aiding patients’ recovery but they are exhausted. During the peak, many worked long, intensive shifts, living away from families and separated from usual ways of coping due to lockdown. With this funding we can deliver a service that will address issues of low moods, fatigue and early signs of more serious mental health issues.”
One doctor told how, after a gruelling 12-hour shift, she struggled as she saw people gathering in parks.
Dr Sophie Edwards, 47, a consultant in geriatric medicine at The Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, East London, said: “I had come off a 12-hour shift, taking risks to save others, and really knew the impact of the virus. I worried for people out in parks close together, I really struggled with this.”
Petra Francis, 40, a ward manager in specialist respiratory medicine at Newham University Hospital, said she dreaded the weekly clap for the NHS.
She said: “I never took part. I felt very low for all those we lost. Every Thursday I would block it out.”
Other medics told how wearing PPE for long hours, seeing death daily, watching people die without their loved ones, and having to distance from their own families, took its toll.
They said it made them depressed and tearful, and they felt like they were living in two worlds.
In the first wave, Barts Health NHS Trust treated 2,508 patients for Covid-19, with 653 dying from the virus. It had 194 intensive care unit beds available with 155 occupied.
On two days in April, its ICU beds hit 91 per cent occupancy.
Now, having put their mental health on the line to save lives, the £3million package will help workers at St Bartholomew’s, The Royal London, Whipps Cross, Newham and Mile End.
The cash comes from Barts Charity’s Covid Emergency appeal, which raised £3.7million from March to July.
Private investment firm Capula Investment Management donated £1.2million and Dr Josh Michaels, of The Royal London Hospital, raised extra cash playing his “quarantine jukebox”.
Clinical psychologists will work long-term in the hospitals, offering mental health first aid, counselling and wellbeing sessions.
They will help build staff wellbeing and resilience to prevent mental ill health issues from developing – and show staff how to support colleagues.
The package also includes refurbishment of a staff on-call room and upgrades to more than 300 rest spaces.
Funke Bella, 36
Senior radiographer Funke works at Newham University Hospital and has been with the NHS since 2008.
She said: “My mother-in law came to stay before lockdown and ended up staying with us.
“She is 66, so we made the decision to shield her and after I got Covid symptoms we ended up dividing the house in two with me upstairs and my mother-in-law downstairs.
“I also share the home with my husband and children, aged five and eight.
“I took my stress home with me, I’m normally very happy but I just felt so overwhelmed and emotionally low, it affected my eating and sleeping and it broke me a little bit.
“I’m so glad we are getting more mental health support, we need it otherwise we just fall apart. It is a very anxious time as we anticipate a second wave.”
Amun Sandhu, 31
A speciality doctor in general practice at Whipps Cross Hospital, East London, Amun has worked in the NHS for five years.
She said: “The emergency rota was 12-hour shifts with three days on and three off, alternating nights with days and never giving enough time for us to mentally or physically recover on days off.
“I felt anxious about lack of PPE, the fear of an unknown virus and that I would act as a carrier and give it to my husband, who is asthmatic.”
Issy Fale, 26
A respiratory physiotherapist at St Bartholomew’s in East London, Issy has been in the NHS five years. She said: “I was working with seriously ill Covid patients. I remember helping someone make a video call to family and they were upset they could not be together, then the patient passed.
“I would strip off at the door when I got home and shower before I could hug my partner. I didn’t want to take my stress and worry home but I was often upset at home. It felt so relentless.”
Petra Francis, 40
The ward manager in specialist respiratory medicine at Newham University Hospital, East London, has worked for the NHS since 2003.
She said: “We were dealing with a lot of people with Covid deteriorating very quickly and dying, which was distressing.
“We cried a lot together as a team but there was no time to stop and no time for fear.
“I contracted Covid and was very sick for seven days. My husband and children were also affected.”
For more information: www.bartscharity.org.uk
