How thousands of NHS Test and Trace workers are here
healthcare professionals to join the virtual frontline and now works as an NHS Clinical Contact Caseworker.
Talking to people over the phone, Sarah noticed how much people had suffered in isolation. “One lady said to me: ‘Please can you call me every day because this has made me feel so much better’,” she says. “It is just having someone to listen. So much of it is about reassurance.”
One of her first cases was a mum whose family had coronavirus. “She seemed to feel so guilty about it,” says Sarah. “The whole family tested positive for it – the dad, a toddler and a young baby, and she was convinced she had given it to all of them and felt so bad.
“She was so emotional and it was one of those where she needed some support. Her partner couldn’t get out of bed he was so ill and the whole family was really struggling.
“They were all isolating and she just needed someone to listen to her. I told her of course it was OK that the whole family wasn’t having proper meals – and that just grabbing something to keep them going was just fine.
“So not only am I there to talk symptoms and advice on the medical side, but also the mental side too – offering emotional support.
“And then there is letting them know about the practical support that is out there too – like whether the council can help with the grocery shop.”
May Li has spent 35 years as a nurse and now brings arts and crafts activities to care homes. When coronavirus hit she was desperate to do something more to help, so set up a support group and gathered a group of friends to create a new food bank. Now May, 54, from Hampshire, is working as a contact tracer.
“One of my first questions is to find out how they are. Really, how are they?” says May. “If they’ve tested positive it’s quite a scary time and quite often they’re really pleased that someone’s asking about them and their symptoms. I quite often say to people, ‘Please don’t be worried’. They’re not in trouble at all and it’s really important to identify the people that may have been put at risk during the time when they’ve just been carrying out their day to day life.”
May is able to give advice on how to manage symptoms and what to do after receiving a
FRIENDLY VOICES positive test result – and she’ll also help people retrace their steps to find out who they’ve been in contact with.
“One of my first cases was to contact an elderly gentleman who had tested positive whilst going through screening ahead of his cancer surgery. He was naturally incredibly worried that he had tested positive and that this meant a delay to his