Medics reveal faces behind the masks
HEALTHCARE workers across the Welsh NHS are still getting used to a strange new reality of wearing full PPE when treating patients.
“They can’t see your face behind the mask which also makes your voice muffled so it also makes it very difficult for them to hear us too,” said Dr Raja Biswas, a consultant physician at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital.
Dr Biswas specialises in elderly care, so many of the patients he cares for at the hospital already have hearing and sight challenges to overcome.
“We can’t do much about the sound, but by putting the pictures of ourselves onto our uniform, it at least gives them a face to look at and remember.”
Dr Biswas, who has worked as a consultant at the hospital since 2006, said his patients have been very appreciative of seeing the faces behind the masks of doctors on the ward who have adopted the idea.
Dr Biswas cares for patients on the Covid-19 wards at the hospital, and said some of his colleagues have had the virus.
“The moment they are better they are coming straight back to work. I have even said to them to stay home for a bit longer. I think initially, when this all started around February, there was a big sense of guilt if you were not working.
“But now everyone is coming to realise this is a long-term thing. It is a marathon, not a sprint. We need to rest and take time for our own well-being.”
Dr Karina James works with Dr Biswas as a registrar. The 34-year-old mum-oftwo has also adopted wearing a photograph of herself to show patients the face behind the mask.
“We are so used to putting on the mask and visor we forget what we look like. I have definitely noticed how it affects our patients who often have poor sight and hearing. They definitely look to me and smile since we have started wearing the photos.”
The staff on the ward have also been using voice enhancers, which allow staff to talk into a microphone which patients can listen to through headphones.
Dr James said most of the staff have had to make many adaptations to their work and home lives since the pandemic began.
At home, Dr James has used the extra downtime from not being able to go out by reading a lot more, and avoiding social media.
“My husband is a doctor as well, so we can offload on each other, it’s good because we understand the stress.”
Life for the doctor’s two children, three-year-old Alys and two-year-old Daniel, also looks very different. Dr James, who usually works part time, is now picking up extra shifts.
“On our days off before, you always felt like you needed to be out with them, but now we are at home and spending time together very differently, it makes you realise you don’t always need to go out to spend money.”