Healthcare workers are under unprecedented strain as the coronavirus death toll mounts and some intensive care wards reach capacity, while shortages of protective equipment and delays to testing are increasing fears.
Here, frontline NHS staff tell of working as the Covid-19 pandemic escalates.
A&E nurse in central London
We are doing up to 15 intubations every 24 hours and you can now have three or four people dying during a single shift. It used to be a couple of deaths a week. We are no longer allowing visitors either; not having your loved ones with you at the end of your life is incredibly distressing and we are having to arrange voice calls and perform the last rites more than ever before.
There’s a running joke in our A&E that they are still not testing enough of us because they would have to send half of us home. We are all resigned to getting it because the protection is not up to scratch. On my last shift I provided personal care to a Covid-19 patient wearing only a surgical mask and a visor and he started coughing. We know what he coughed up is going to hang around in the air and basic equipment doesn’t provide protection from contagious droplets.
There is a sense of camaraderie among us but we have lost any faith that the government are going to sort it out and we are planning a protest because we’re not happy that they are trying to absolve themselves of responsibility. A culture of efficiencies has led us to this point – you need a surplus of equipment because the job we do is complex. We are tired, demoralised and afraid.
A&E consultant, south-west
Some of the people we are treating have not recognised how bad their symptoms are and have come to us too late, with low oxygen levels and fast breathing rates. We would encourage people to come to us if their condition is deteriorating. There has been a much younger cohort of patients than we were expecting. There are some really sick Covid-19 patients who are young with no known underlying health conditions.
Some of my friends have left their homes because they are worried about taking it back to their families. There are only 25 tests available a week at our hospital and they are only being used to get people back to work. We are still going back to our loved ones not knowing if we’ve had it and this is causing massive levels of anxiety.
Paramedic, south-east
If I’d have been tested a fortnight ago when I first started experiencing the symptoms I’m sure I would have tested positive; it took me ages to get a test. I was absolutely washed out and had aches and pains, but I’m back on shifts now and we still don’t have adequate protections.
We have seen general activity levels fall but we are seeing a lot of Covid-19 patients with acute respiratory symptoms. They’re asking us to stand in front of people with a disease that could kill you and your family. It is nothing short of insulting. It’s a paper mask and an apron that doesn’t even hold up to walking down the road. Staff are getting sick as a direct result of having to deal with these poor patients in completely inappropriate equipment.
Pharmacist in Greater Manchester
People are still coming in saying family members have coronavirus and if we have anything for a dry cough and fever. I just say: “What are you doing here?”. It’s quite alarming. They’ve put screens up at the pharmacy directly behind the till but there is a massive gap three times the size in the middle that people still instinctively peer through. The supermarket where I work has taken a short cut and didn’t do a thorough job.
Things are calming down compared to two weeks ago, as doctors prescribed fairly heavily initially, but we are not sure when we will be tested and I’m concerned that I’m an asymptomatic carrier. We are still coming into contact with hundreds of people collecting their medicine, some of whom are vulnerable. We have surgical masks and gloves now, but no real protective equipment. It’s a risky, haphazard approach.
GP, south London
We’ve had many calls and emails from elderly patients who were told by their supermarkets that they couldn’t have deliveries if they didn’t have a letter from their GP stating that they’re in the high-risk group, but these people are not in high-risk groups. This is putting a strain on us – the receptionists and the GPs – as we then have to go through their records instead of dealing with clinical issues.
We are also getting queries from other people, especially with asthma or diabetes, wanting a letter when they are not in the highest-risk group. The excess paperwork is a burden at the moment. I’ve been self-isolating at home because my daughter has had a fever since Thursday. I booked her in for the swabbing at the O2 car park and it was like being in a movie. We got the result today: she’s negative, so I’ll be able to go back to the surgery.
Trust deputy director of finance, the Midlands
The central procurement process for PPE hasn’t worked and we’re now considering breaking away from that process. Overall, NHS England has been unable to keep up with demand – with potentially deadly consequences. But they are using far more than they ever would and you can see why they’re struggling.
It is often a battle between social services and the NHS to see who pays for the ongoing and social care patients need, but funding assessments have been done away with. It’s a real game-changer. People who review the payment by results system every step of the way and work out how to improve and make efficiencies are also no longer needed under the current regime. This has been a good opportunity to shake things up: austerity cost massive amounts of damage and any savings achieved were wiped out by rising deprivation.
