Nurses and doctors from rural hospitals to city emergency wards have described the emotional rollercoaster during a pandemic on the frontline.
With the NHS turning 72 on Sunday, they said the health service responded well under pressure, whether in Covid wards or with long-term patients cut off from visitors.
They shone a light on life for staff and patients as Health Secretary Jeane Freeman penned a personal letter of thanks to everyone in the service, which is published in full below.
Charge nurse Vicky Thomson, who works at Kelso Community Hospital in the Borders, said the impact of the virus has had a profound affect even where infections are low.
Vicky said: "It's been a really strange time but a privileged time too," she said. "We’ve been a huge part of our patients' lives because their families have had to step back.
"We've had to be very sensitive to how they're feeling - it's been quite powerful really."
Vicky had just qualified as a non-medicine prescribing nurse but quickly had to be a bridge between GPs and patients, many in long-term rehabilitation. With few Covid-19 cases, patients still had to put up with the emotional distress of being cut off from visitors for weeks.
Her line manager, senior charge nurse Andrea Johnstone, said staff had stepped up from all disciplines. She explained: "There have been challenges but it's really brought the team together. It brings to light how fragile life is. We spend a lot of time together and we're a great team."
The experience in Edinburgh's busy Western General Hospital contrasted with Kelso, but anaesthetist Dr Eireann Allen said the need to be flexible in an emerging crisis was no different.
"We had to put a lot on hold to focus on this, but we proved we could do it and can do it again," she said. "It brought together all kinds of people from nurses in organ donation, theatre, recovery, all out of their comfort zones, retraining, up-skilling and doing the job.
"At its peak this was extremely labour intensive. It takes a team of six to turn someone over to help breathing while keeping everything in place."
By the end of May, people were starting to leave hospital, to the relief of doctors.
Healthcare staff now know they can respond to emergencies like coronavirus but hope the NHS can return to more traditional contact with patients.
Dr Allen said: "To be able to show compassion, as humans, our facial expressions say much more than we realise. This way of communicating gives patients understanding and reassurance when they might be at their most vulnerable. I don't know how long the need for PPE and physical distancing measures will be in place but I can only hope that it’s not indefinitely."
With the 72nd anniversary coming, Health Secretary Jeane Freeman wrote a personal letter to NHS and social care staff thanking them for playing their vital part in difficult times.
