To win war against virus
Sarahhartle hadbeenstudying to becomeadentalhygienist in Manchesterforalmostthreeyears andonmonday, March23she finally qualified andwaspreparing to start her newcareer.
But almost immediately England wasinlockdown.
The34-year-old (below) said: “It wasliterally afewhours after I hadqualified. I hadbeen studying since 2018 andit had all beenbuilding to this but nowi had nothing, nomeansofearning plus I hadtwoyoungchildren who suddenly weren’t at school.”
“Theni got this email through fromtheprofessional dental council, asking for healthcare professionals to join the virtual frontline. I hadalookandbeing an Nhsclinical Contact Caseworker seemed like the perfect job for me.
“I could choose my hours and work from home – so I could do 8am to noon on weekdays and spend the afternoon helping the children with their school work. Theni’d beable to put in acouple of eight hour shifts at the weekend.”
Sarahsaysthe workhasbeen rewarding andopenedhereyesto howall sorts of people can suffer in isolation.
She said: “One lady said to me: ‘Please can you call me every day because this has made me feel so much better’.
“It is just having someone to listen. I can’t understand what they are going through but I can give them a platform, a place where they can vent their frustration or talk about their anxiety and I can tell them everything they are doing is okay. So much of it is about reassurance.
“One of my first cases was a poor mum whose family had the virus and she seemed to feel so guilty about it. The whole family tested positive for it – the dad, a toddler and a young baby and she was convinced she had given it to all of them and felt so bad about it.
“She was so emotional and it was one of those whereshejust needed somesupport. Herpartner couldn’t get out of bed. Hewasso ill andthe wholefamily wasreally struggling.
“They wereall isolating and she just neededsomeonetolisten to her. I told her of course it was okay that the wholefamily wasn’t having proper meals – andthat just grabbing something to keep them going wasjust fineduringthis time.
“Sonotonly amithereto talk symptomsandadviceonthe medical side, but also the mental side too – offering emotional support.
“Andthenthere is letting them knowaboutthepractical support that is out there too – like whether the council canhelp with the grocery shop.”
Sarahsaysthere is no typical day as a Clinical Contact Caseworkerbecausenotwocalls are the same. Someneedvery little assistance andit can beavery quick call but others need to be handled with alot of time andcare. Shesaid: “Onabusydayimaydo eight or nine calls in aneight hour shift. Youcanbedonewithtaking all the details sometimes but then endupspending anextra half an hour onthe phonetalking about whattheyarehavingfor tea! It’s that humaninteraction that people needwhenthey are suddenly in isolation like this.”
One of my first cases was a poor mum whose family had the virus and she seemed to feel so guilty about it.