Spontaneous celebration for patient ‘on the mend’
NHS staff have celebrated the emotional moment a patient recovering with Covid-19 was wheeled out of a South Wales intensive care unit
The poignant footage shared by the Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil shows staff in full protective equipment gathering to clap and cheer the patient as his hospital bed is moved out of the ward.
The man’s recovery in the ward for the hospital’s sickest patients comes as other consultants have been sharing their recovery stories from those that have been on death’s door.
At the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport, frontline medic Dr David Hepburn said five coronavirus patients who were “as sick as you could be” have now recovered to the point where they are no longer in danger.
Writing online, he said: “Want some good news? We’ve discharged our first five patients from critical care. They’ve got a way to go before full recovery but are safe and on the mend. I’m so thankful. I hope we can keep it up. They were all ventilated, so sick as you can be.”
The doctor also told how many patients he had treated did not suffer from pre-existing medical conditions.
He said: “Some of them are younger than I am, and they’re certainly not the frail, elderly people that some of us were led to believe we’d be seeing – they’re young, they’re fit, and they have young families, as do I.”
Meanwhile, the Cardiff and Vale University Health Board said 188 patients who were diagnosed with Covid-19 have now recovered and been discharged from hospital.
Its chief executive Len Richards announced 12 of those discharged had once been admitted to intensive care.
In his column on the health board’s website, he said: “As the Covid-19 pandemic continues, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our members of staff for their flexibility.
“Many of them are working in new areas on new shift patterns and doing different roles; their commitment to the care that they are giving to our patients is nothing short of remarkable and we would not be able to respond to Covid-19 in the way we have done without their efforts.
“Thanks to the hard work of our staff, to date 188 Covid-19 patients have recovered and been discharged from or hospitals and 12 of those had been admitted to ITU.”
Mr Richards also paid tribute to nurse Gareth Roberts who died at Prince Charles Hospital after testing positive for coronavirus.
He said: “Gareth had devoted over 40 years of his life to caring for the people of Cardiff and Vale.
“He joined our nursing team in the 1980s and retired in 2014 before re-joining the nursing bank in 2015. He was well liked and admired by his colleagues who described him as a kind and helpful person, and someone from whom they learnt so much.
“Our thoughts are with Gareth’s family, friends and colleagues as this incredibly sad time.
“Gareth has been an instrumental part of our nursing team at Cardiff and Vale for decades and his loss will be truly felt across the health board.
“Gareth will be missed by all and the care he has given to so many patients over the years will never be forgotten.”