TOGETHER FRONTLINE
don’t need to go back to the old way.
“In times of adversity people come up with solutions.”
Dr Shahid Akhtar, 37, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at the Royal Gwent Hospital, is a member of the fundraising committee.
He said: “Our shifts, working patterns and core activity have turned completely upside down. We had to look at the way we deliver our practice during this unprecedented time.
“A lot of us have been re-deployed to help with the ITU and our medical colleagues to lift the burden off our A&E colleagues.
“Whether it has been minor injuries, we have focused on getting them into clean hospitals to treat them.
“People have still been falling ill, the elderly are still falling and breaking hips, so there is always a need due to trauma that hasn’t stopped. It means we’ve had to ensure these patients are being treated safely and not in danger zones.
“We have had to change everything that we are doing and to ensure we are protecting our oxygen resources, we are working out of one hospital which I can’t thank my colleagues enough for.
“It means that everything is centralised at the Royal Gwent so that all colleagues are aware of what they need to deal with on that particular day and how many staff are available.
“Normally patients may be sent to different hospitals, but right now that isn’t possible and everyone is being treated at the Royal Gwent Hospital.”
Dr Akhtar credits his local mosque for taking the initiative to support the community.
“We all live by a similar principle of humanity so when one is hurting we want to do something to help. Along with our committee at the mosque and a group of GPs, we’ve looked at different ways to help.
“That was food parcels, delivery of essential goods, counselling, before realising the importance of delivering PPE to staff at our hospitals. There was a slow supply due to the increase in demand with suppliers.
“Our team of GPs have worked tirelessly over the last week to source the equipment, which was not easy at all.
“A number of medical staff such as nurses and out-of-hours doctors do incredible jobs and often work with unprotected equipment so we wanted to supply them with what they needed.”
He added: “Phase two, which we hope to raise a total of £15,000 for, will look at the ITU units at the Royal Gwent and University Hospital of Wales. We want to provide them with the best we can.
On Friday volunteers from the mosque also provided staff at the City Hospice in Cardiff with PPE.
Liz Andrews, chief executive of the hospice, said: “City Hospice is Cardiff’s local hospice, caring for individuals with life-limiting and terminal illness in their own homes.
“It’s wonderful to see the community come together to support our essential frontline work.”
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