PULLING TO HELP
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HE past few weeks have been some of the toughest ever experienced by many health workers on the Covid-19 frontline in Wales.
The scarcity of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) has been described by some as a national scandal.
Yesterday, the British Medical Association insisted doctors and nurses should not be asked to “put their lives on the line” to save others.
Now a group of doctors are raising funds to help increase the amount of PPE offered to their colleagues.
They have formed a committee at Dar-Ul-Isra Mosque in Cathays, Cardiff, which has already raised more than £11,000.
Phase one of the project allowed them to supply PPE to every GP practice in Cardiff with equipment including reusable respirators, disposable gowns and hair caps.
They now want to provide the Intensive Treatment Units (ITU) at the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport and the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff with eight respirators.
They also want to provide district nursing teams, the palliative care team, GP surgeries in the Vale and the community care team with PPE.
This is phase two of the project and will cost an extra £3,000.
Dr Esma Izzideen, 37, a part-time GP at Llanishen Court Surgery, is a member of the committee.
She said the pandemic has brought massive changes to her and her colleagues’ way of life and she hopes the appeal will show the NHS staff how much they are appreciated.
“Since the Covid-19 pandemic, we’ve had to change and adapt to ensure we keep our patients as safe as possible. For some, this means keeping them at home and we have started more phone and video consultations. We do still bring patients in if we feel they need to be seen in person.
“We observe the same social distancing measures as everyone else.
“The pandemic has brought so many challenges because it is unprecedented, but it has brought people together and I’m so proud to be part of such a proactive team.
“One of the biggest challenges is the contagious nature of the disease and bringing that home to loved ones, especially if they are vulnerable. PPE has always been at the forefront of our talks.
“Despite so many people working hard across the board there is so much more to do. We were made aware in our local mosque people were talking about what they could do to support the community and the NHS.
“We thought it would be great to get PPE to those who need it and members of the community jumped on it. They really wanted to express their gratitude to those protecting them.”
Many NHS workers will feel exhausted and demotivated, but Dr Izzideen believes the community support will enable them to keep going.
“The appeal was launched and we met our target of £8,000 in 48 hours,” she said. “It’s great to see people have so much respect for our NHS staff.
“It’s so important to look after the palliative care teams and especially the ITU team at the Royal Gwent who have been so badly hit. People have dug deep to donate and even kids have donated their pocket money.
“What the appeal has achieved in such little time is incredible.
“The community have given so generously and the volunteers have been working on all the logistics making sure everything works.
“We had someone come forward who has been working day and night to make the packs. People from all walks of life, communities and that strength will hopefully see us emerge stronger from this pandemic.”
Dr Emaad Alauddin, 34, a GP at Cardiff Bay surgery, said: “The shifts have been extra busy, but it’s the same across the board. We’ve been seeing a lot of people who are worried they may have symptoms, or are seeing people who have been furloughed for support.
“The way we’re working has changed dramatically. Now we do assessments over the phone then decide what’s the next step. We can now do video calls or we can bring patients in for testing.
“A fair few people have Covid-19 symptoms, but are put into categories depending on how bad their symptoms are. We have set up Covid-19 hubs so patients who may have severe symptoms can visit there and be assessed safely.
“We see a handful of patients every day who need to be admitted to hospital. There are patients who are scared to come in because they’re scared of catching coronavirus.
“There’s been cases around the UK where people have died of other conditions because they haven’t had medical attention due to whatever reason, so people should seek medical attention when they can.”
Dr Alauddin said: “The lack of PPE has been highly spoken of in the media. We’ve had some from the health board, but it wasn’t enough.
“The initial plan was to support our GPs, but the response was fantastic so we carried it on to support our care home staff and the palliative care team. It’s to protect those who are working hard to try and keep everyone safe.
“It’s been heartwarming to see and it’s dragged our way of working into the 21st century. It shows that the technology we are using now is making things more efficient and we