A Scots nurse working on the frontline is on a mission to make the lives of palliative patients more comfortable.
Hannah Brockett has watched dying patients become more and more distressed at Glasgow Royal Infirmary where she works on the coronavirus ward.
The 24-year-old, originally from Uddingston, noticed that giving agitated patients something to keep their hands occupied comforts and calms them down.
Hannah has now launched an appeal for people to knit and donate items - dubbed "twiddle muffs" by staff - which can be then handed out to patients on the ward.
"I work in a Covid ward so we have a lot of palliative, dying patients. They can get very distressed and start pulling out their IVs or scratching and biting staff," Hannah said.
"So it can be soothing to give them something to play with.
" It helps calm them down and gives them something to do to occupy them.
"I’ve given them to a couple of people already but I’m quarantining them so I don’t bring covid into the ward.
"Most of the people are a bit too delirious to recognise it. A lot of them take it and play with it but are not aware."
Donations can be as simple as a sheet of wool with buttons sewed on as anything patients can fiddle with helps.
Hannah, who has worked at the hospital for around a year and a half, said times had been challenging on the ward as many younger patients were being admitted.
She said: "This peak has definitely been the worst for my ward. It’s been extremely busy - we’ve been short staffed - seeing more patients - it’s been challenging.
"There are quite a lot of younger people who are getting quite sick with no past medical conditions.
"It’s frightening - thinking about your parents and the thought of my mum and dad getting ill and it killing them.
"We’re all quite a close knit team so it does help but there has been a lot of staff sickness - there were around 20 of us off at one time.
"I had coronavirus back in October but I was fine, I just couldn’t taste or smell at all."
Currently the nurse has received around 100 donated items and people are still knitting away.
Initially shocked by the response to her appeal, Hannah, who now lives in Dennistoun, was pleased so many people were willing to help.
Staff have also been comforting patients by doing Facetime calls with their loved ones on the ward Ipad which particularly helps patients brought in from care homes who didn't have the technology.
Conspiracy theorists spreading misinformation have the potential to kill people, Hannah added, as she urged people to follow the rules and wear a mask so we can get out of lockdown.
"You could kill someone's whole family with just one house party," Hannah said.
"Follow the rules. Take the vaccine - it’s fine. I’ve had the first dose and it’s fine."
Donations can be made by contacting Hannah on her Facebook page.
