Written stories

At the start of the pandemic in 2020, a project called Shared Hearts was set up by our Critical Care team to support loved ones of patients who had sadly died of Covid. I created this tapestry by hand stitching over 125,000 individual pieces of yarn over a 4 month period.

Submitted by Karen We are a team of three Cardiac Specialist Nurses, two Physiotherapist and a Cardiac Exercise Specialist, providing time sensitive information and advice. Although during the first lockdown, we continued to speak to and send tailor made information specific to the patient’s needs, it became clear that providing our cardiac rehab patients with written exercises was inadequate and unsatisfactory. We quickly realised that in the absence of our exercise classes we needed to be able to provide a visual exercise programme for patients to follow. We trawled the internet to see what was available in video form, ...

Reflection of the last year from Ultrasound

My Covid-19 story begins in March 2020. It took me, just like everyone else, completely by surprise. I never thought we would have to go through such unpleasant times. It has influenced me greatly and had an impact on how I view the world....

As the Southlands Matron I was responsible for the Day surgery team and the Ophthalmic team here at Southlands, both teams had very different experiences of the pandemic...

During the first wave it was a shock to the system, lots of “quick to react” working as none of us had any idea of the impact Covid was going to have on all staff working across the organisation....

The first lock down I remember it being so peaceful and quiet and no cars on the road, I could hear the birds singing again. But at work we were not singing.

I would like to share the story of how the Western front line staff came together to offer practical advice, reflection, clinical discussion and mutual support from the very start of the Covid pandemic.

Tina, Private and Overseas Manager shares her story of being redeployed.

Where to start, that’s the first thing I find myself asking. This year has been like no other, at home and my career to date....

During COVID the IT teams across all sites supplied over 1200 Laptops, PC's, Phones and nearly 1000 headphones and accessories.

For three weeks I have been working on Ford, which is a ward of covid positive patients who are deemed not suitable for escalation beyond steroids and oxygen support....

I have really treasured working as part of the admin team for the Vaccination Hub at St Richards. Because of cancelled meetings and altered priorities, I was able to offer half of my substantive hours to the hub.

As a Covid-19 victim that witnessed agonising deaths and grieving families and friends at work due to pandemic restrictions, I deeply realised that no one can understand how you truly feel until they get in your shoes and experience it the way you did....

Physio feedback working on ICU during Covid.

Lead physio feedback on ICU during Covid.

Feedback from a Physio working on ICU during Covid.

Submitted by Andrea Occupational Therapist In 2018, after 32 years working in occupational therapy I decided to take some time out for myself. I never imagined that two years later I would be put back on the frontline at the Princess Royal Hospital doing the job that I love. Any worries I had about being back at the hospital were allayed by the support of my wonderful colleagues and my many hospital friends who were still working there. With my voluntary activities stopped at the start of lockdown, it was lovely to be working and providing a ‘normal’ service to ...

Nurses started a relationship and became parents during the pandemic

Submitted by Dee Advanced Occupational Therapist and Joint Team Leader Orthopaedics and Surgery There are two main things I have reflected on as part of the Occupational Therapy Department at St Richard’s Hospital and wanted to share. The first thing was the introduction of Occupational Therapy (OT) into ITU. The team focused on providing critical care rehab for both Covid and non-Covid Patients. The therapy was holistic and wide ranging and individualised to what was meaningful for patients. The team wasn’t fazed by the challenging and unfamiliar environment and PPE, but instead set about finding ways that OT could ...

Submitted by Emma Clinical Stroke and Senior Ophthamology Research Nurse When the pandemic was announced back in March 2020, I really didn’t think it was going to materialise into anything big! It wasn’t until I heard all the news reports from around the world that it dawned on me that this was indeed something huge and it was going to be a historic moment in our life time. When our Prime Minister Boris Johnson made his announcement on 23/03/2020 everything changed for our nation and our lives changed completely. We began to live in a time of social distancing, wearing ...

Project wingman volunteer and colleague find love in lockdown

Submitted by Julie Head of Nursing, Medicine Division Here is an email, I sent to my team to mark the end of 2020: Dear all, As we enter the last day of 2020 I wanted to say a few things… This year has been like nothing I have ever encountered in my 39 years at the Trust. I think a little virus called Covid 19 entered our lives sometime in Dec 19 and has caused us immense issues since Jan/Feb 2020. While it has been a hugely challenging year for us all, with so many changes to patient pathways, ...

Reflection of loved ones battle with Covid