Battle against Covid taking an ‘emotional toll’ on hospital staff
INTENSIVE CARE BATTLE AS PATIENTS FIGHT FOR THEIR LIVES
A HULL medical chief admits the battle against coronavirus is taking an “emotional toll” on staff as ten per cent of Covid-19 patients are in intensive care.
There are 188 Covid-positive patients in either Hull Royal Infirmary or Castle Hill Hospital with 18 of them fighting for their lives. There have now been 296 hospital deaths after four more were recorded on Wednesday.
Now Dr Makani Purva, chief medical officer for the Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, admits intensive care is a very tough environment right now, with people dying every day, including colleagues.
She said: “Intensive care is a challenging place to work right now, but our staff are doing a fantastic job of caring for our most seriously ill patients.
“Currently around ten per cent of all our patients hospitalised with Covid-19 are being treated in one of our intensive care units (ICUS) at Hull Royal or Castle Hill, and, therefore, receiving the highest level of care.
“Sadly, not all of our patients will recover and this obviously takes an emotional toll not only on their loved ones, but on our staff as well.
“I’m so proud of how professionally ll the h ICU teams, and d indeed d d all ll of our staff, are responding to the pandemic and how they are supporting each other through at this difficult time.”
After a look behind the scenes last week Look North spoke to patients as young as 31 years old who were being treated in intensive care.
Every bed was taken by patients receiving oxygen with some on ventilators while stressed out and tired staff did their utmost to help keep people alive.
Dr Caroline Hibbert, consultant in critical care, told Look North: “It feels like it could rapidly escalate out of control and there will be nothing we can do.
“We have far more patients in hospital than we did during the first wave.
Another experienced nurse admitted she has never seen anything like it in all her years.
She said: “It’s overwhelming, I have never had a year like this in my whole career.”
Hull remains the worst area in England for the rate of infection which is 748.3 and d there h were 435 more cases recorded yesterday across Hull and the East Riding.
Dr Purva has urged people to do their utmost not to spread the virus even if they feel confident they would be OK.
She said: “While we know Covid illness tends to be more serious in the older generations, it can affect people of all ages.
“A younger person may only experience mild symptoms, but if they pass the virus to older relatives, this can have very serious consequences.
“We are hopeful that current restrictions will help to reduce circulation of the virus in the community and that it may, in turn, lead to a reduction in hospital admissions but we cannot guarantee this.
“That’s why we continue to urge the public to do all they can to minimise the spread of Covid-19, including regular hand washing, social distancing and wearing face coverings in public areas.
“Our patients and our staff need the support of everyone in our local community.”