‘I HAVE TO SELF-ISOLATE FROM MY FAMILY’

As chief executive of Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King’s Lynn, it is my job to keep people safe – a responsibility that carries even more weight during the coronavirus pandemic. My staff are terrified they could die.

A few weeks ago, we lost Chrissie, a beloved member of staff, after she tested positive for coronavirus.

Chrissie was a healthcare assistant in the investigation and treatment unit and a pillar of the community, who had worked here for 30 years. She would trot around the corridors asking people if they were OK, gaining her the reputation of the “Mum of the unit”. Nothing in my 35-year career prepared me for her death.

I have spent time with grieving staff, and spoken to Chrissie’s family, her husband and children. Patients have also written to me with condolences.

The Union flag that flies over the hospital – which was opened by the Queen in honour of her mother – has been at half-mast since Chrissie’s death. We plan to name a new unit after her and will have a memory bench. At her funeral, the hearse and coffin will drive around the hospital estate as staff throw roses on the road. Chrissie would have wanted this.

The day after Chrissie died, our PPE usage nearly doubled. Yet last week, two more staff members were admitted to the Covid-19 intensive care unit. We now have a “wobble room”, where staff can express emotion. I visit the room and cry alongside them, showing them how dreadfully tired I am.

I’ve comforted a healthcare assistant who was in tears because, three days after telling a family their daughter had died, she had to ring them back to say the husband was dead, too. We’re living the same trauma.

There is also a wall where people can write how they’re feeling, and a comforting supply of food and drinks.

For the first few weeks of the UK outbreak, I was at the hospital every day and sleeping in a hotel nearby. Now, when I have time for nights at home, I have to selfisolate from my husband, son and daughter. It’s strange not to be able to hug them, but just as hard to talk to them about what I’ve seen.