We were prepared, says hospital medic

A CONSULTANT in care of the elderly at Barnet Hospital has said that both his hospital and the Royal Free in Hampstead were well prepared for the arrival of Covid-19.

Jewish doctor David Levy, who featured in the BBC documentary Hospital: Fighting Covid-19, which aired this week, told the JC: “I think the NHS prepared well and braced itself for it. But when it did come the onslaught was pretty rapid. There was a huge upsurge in the number of cases.”

He stressed, however, that the hospitals — both of which are part of the

Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust — had access to adequate PPE: “At the very outset we were advised by Public Health England to wear protective gear that was pretty intensive to put on and take off, transforming us into sort of astronauts.

“But as time has gone by it’s been decided that a mask, apron and some gloves are adequate. We have to trust the advice we’re given is right.”

As medical staff were redeployed to Covid-19 patients, it was “nose to the grindstone” for everyone, said Dr Levy, who has been a consultant at Barnet for 25 years.

Filmed during a three-week period in

March and April when the disease was peaking, the documentary combines arresting behind-the scene footage with moving human stories.

One couple featured were accountant Stanley, 73, and his wife Sonia. Tragically, Stanley died after being transferred to the Intensive Care Unit. Another Jewish patient, Peter, 88 at the Royal Free, came to England as a child refugee from the Nazis in the early 1930s. He was very ill but survived and went home.

Although Barnet Hospital treats one of the country’s largest Jewish communities, Dr Levy said he had not noticed a disproportionate numbers of Jews among his Covid-19 patients.

“Sadly it’s the elderly population who took a real hit with the virus,” he said.

One of the more fraught aspects of the pandemic is the lack of visitors. Dr Levy is shown persuading a Jewish family that they should not take their uncle home to die.

He said: “We all have families and we have empathy for our patients. In the peak of it all, when the world was pretty crazy, we strongly urged people not to come to hospital to visit. There were instances when families were desperate so we had to be humane — but they understood the risk.”

The hospital expects another surge of infections a few weeks after people are let out of lockdown. “If it’s done in a staged fashion I think that’s reasonable. At some point we’re going to have to do it; life has got to get back to normal one day. We’re trying to plan for the worst.”

Dr Levy commended the TV crew, who filmed him for about ten days. “I hardly noticed them. They were sensitive and withdrew when a situation required them not to be there and were very respectful with the patients and didn’t hinder the doctors in any way.

He stressed that hospital staff had access to enough PPE