Shining a light on nurses amid coronavirus crisis
Nurses from the Emergency Department and Acute Receiving unit assemble outside Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow to mark International Nurses Day.
Survivors of heart attack and strokes are rallying to help one of Scotland leading health charities which is losing £500,000 a month during lockdown despite seeing an 80 per cent increase in demand for services during the pandemic.
The Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland (CHSS) charity caring for people living with these types of illnesses, now including coronavirus, says it has seen demand for its advice line and one-to-one community support services steadily increase – reaching a peak last week showing 80 per cent more demand compared with the same time last year.
Its community support teams and peer support groups are being offered over the phone or via teleconference.
People vulnerable and isolated in their homes, are seeing an impact on their mental and physical health, and for many, the charity’s services are the only support they still have.
CHSS has lost £1 million so far during lockdown because it has been unable to fundraise through its shops, a staple of high street and events.
The charity say that unless it sees a large increase in donations, it fears having to close some of its essential services in a matter of months.
Debbie Matthew, from Comrie in Perthshire, told how her world changed forever when she suffered a stroke that nearly killed her.
The 44-year-old was helped to get her life back on track after phoning one of the CHSS advice line nurses.
She said: “I had a stroke just after my 40th birthday, completely out of the blue with no warning whatsoever.
“My husband and my mum were both by my side when the doctor told them I might not make it.
“And if I did, they didn’t know what kind of damage I’d be left with.
“They said it was hell – a day they will never forget – but they stayed strong for me. I can’t imagine what they were going through.
“Against all odds, I survived but I really struggled with the return back home after hospital.
“I started feeling really anxious and depressed but I kept my feelings to myself. I wanted everyone to think I was back to being the normal, smiley Debbie.
“Despite having my amazing family around me, I couldn’t help feeling increasingly isolated.
“I was too ashamed and embarrassed to tell them about my worries and how I was really feeling. I felt like I was reaching breaking point when I finally decided to do something about it.
“I sat for a long time before picking up the phone to Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland’s advice line. I even hung up a few times before plucking up the courage to stay on the line.
“But when I did get through, the nurse was absolutely amazing.”
She added: “I felt like I could really open up and ask all the personal questions I needed to ask about my physical and mental health. They’re expert stroke nurses so they knew exactly what I was going through and what I needed to hear to make me feel at ease.
After that first call, I felt so much better about myself. It really was a lifeline for me and I know they’ve helped so many others through dark times.”
Darlene Drummond, lead community support co-ordinator ATCHSS, said: “It’s desperately sad to imagine a world without our services.
“For many of the people I support and talk to every day, I am their lifeline to the outside world – without me, there is no one else.
“The most vulnerable, who are shielding and isolating, and trapped in their houses and their mental and physical health is being drastically affected.
“I can’t bear the thought of not being able to help them anymore, please give what you can today.”
Health Secretary Matt Hancock has warned that people are unlikely to be able to go on foreign holidays this summer, despite Ryanair planning to restore 40 per cent of its flights from July.
Asked whether “summer was cancelled”, Mr Hancock told ITV’S This Morning yesterday: “I think that’s likely to be the case.”
He added: “It is unlikely that big, lavish international holidays are going to be possible for this summer.
“I just think that’s a reality of life.” The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has advised against all but essential international travel since 17 March, while domestic holidays are not allowed due to the Government’s lockdown orders issued six days later.
Mr Hancock’s comments
Ryanair set to restore 40 per cent of flights from July – but people told to forget big foreign holidays
Neil Lancefield
came just hours after Ryanair announced it would operate nearly 1,000 flights per day from 1 July subject to European countries lifting flight restrictions and “effective public health measures” being put in place at airports.
The plan involves 90 per cent of the airline’s precovid-19 route network being restored, but on reduced frequencies.
Since mid-march it has operated a skeleton daily schedule of 30 flights per day between the UK, Ireland and the rest of Europe.
Passengers and crew will be required to wear face masks or face coverings, and pass temperature checks.
Queuing for toilets will be banned, but “toilet access will be made available to individual passengers upon request”, according to the airline.
A limited range of refreshments will be sold on board and no cash will be accepted.
Ryanair said all surfaces in its cabins will be disinfected every night with chemicals which are effective for more than 24 hours.
The carrier will require all passengers flying in July and August to complete a form when they check in, stating how long their visit will be and where they are staying.
This information will be provided to EU governments to “help them to monitor any isolation regulations they require of visitors on intraeu flights”.
Ryanair chief executive Eddie Wilson said: “It is important for our customers and our people that we return to some normal schedules from 1 July onwards. Governments around Europe have implemented a four-month lockdown to limit the spread of the Covid-19 virus.
“After four months, it is time to get Europe flying again so we can reunite friends and families, allow people to return to work and restart Europe’s tourism industry, which provides so many millions of jobs.”
Rory Boland, editor of consumer magazine Which? Travel, said: “With the Government set to introduce quarantine rules for passengers entering the country, expanding flight schedules now is likely to leave many families, who booked summer holidays months ago, with expensive flights they can’t take.”