NHS Advertiser - April 2021

SPRING 2021

UK LEADING THE WORLD ON VACCINE ROLLOUT

INNOVATION IN THE FACE OF COVID-19 VOLUNTEERS GO THE EXTRA MILE CLEANERS, COVID 19’S UNSUNG HEROES?

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Showing appreciation

At the NHS Advertiser we, like everyone else, have been very grateful for the super-human effort that the staff of the NHS have made, during the COVID-19 crisis. Always prepared to go the extra mile, even in times when there is no pandemic, their efforts over the past year have been extraordinary.

Holding the Line

NHS staff up and down the country have worked tirelessly and have gone above and beyond the call of duty to save lives and to keep us all well. Now they will start the mammoth task of vaccinating the entire population. The dedication of the men and women who work at every level of the NHS has been remarkable and has prompted the rest of us to think about what we can do to show our appreciation.

It is natural to want to give them our thanks but we can go further. At NHS Advertiser we want to do that and we know that our clients do too. Alongside the work NHS undertake on a daily basis, they have to keep their own lives and homes running. With their time limited, we have as our mission to make their lives easier where we can and we are responding to the desire of our clients to give something back to these selfless workers.

Add your thanks

At NHS Advertiser we want to show the admirable staff off the NHS how much we really do appreciate them and the sacrifices they continue to make, by offering them discounts from local businesses. We want to offer them the goods and services that they deserve and can us and we want to show them our appreciation. In answer to a growing interest in offering rewards in the form of discounts and other incentives the NHS Advertiser invites you to join us in our mission to show our appreciation to the staff of the NHS and offer them tangible rewards for their on-going and untiring efforts on our behalf.

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CO N T EN T S 08 COVID-19: UK Leading the World on Vaccine Rollout 12 Breakfast like a King?

14 Volunteers Go the Extra Mile 18 Innovation in the face of COVID-19 22 A hospice nurse says thank you 26 The challenge for the NHS, post Covid 19 30 How Fire-fighters fought the Covid 19 pandemic 32 The Trouble with PPE 36 My Moral Duty 40 Helping Hand Heroes aid struggling NHS workers 44 Cleaners, Covid 19’s unsung heroes?

48 Need 999?

PUBLISHERS

Healthcare Press, 4th Floor, Silverstream House, 45 Fitzroy Street, London, W1T 6EB Phone: 020 4539 4481 Email: info@nhsadvertiser.co.uk Website: www.nhsadvertiser.co.uk DISCLAIMER: Whilst all material and discounts provided for this magazine is aimed and highlighted towards the NHS and various Emergency Services Agencies, it must be understood that all advertising space is purchased directly from the publishers Healthcare Press who are not part of the National Health Service neither do we have any connection or affiliation with any government body within the Healthcare or Emergency Service sector within the United Kingdom.

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COVID-19:

UK LEADING THE WORLD ON VACCINE ROLLOUT

As the vaccine programme gets underway in the UK it is likely that more vaccines will also be approved over the next few months. Doctors will be able to cherry pick which vaccination should be given to their patients – a nice problem to have!

There is no doubt that this is something that we, as Brits, can be proud of but are there some other aspects where response, overall, may be judged to have been inadequate.

One thing is sure, we need to learn lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic and a committee in the shape of the Commons Science and Technology Committee will be looking at what has been done well and what has fallen short of the mark.

AHEAD OF THE GAME

In the UK, we have prepurchased more vaccines, per head of population than any other country and indeed

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the world. The first roll out of the Pfizer-BioNTech jab was a direct result of the call made early in the pandemic by the government’s chief scientist who identified that this would be the essential way out of the pandemic.

LATE TO LOCK DOWN

While the news on the vaccine front is good, there are other areas in which the government’s response has been less praise-worthy. In particular in the Spring of 2020 the failures of the test and trace scheme mean that the authorities failed to observe the virus closely enough and it went on to spread, under the radar, more widely. By the time that focus returned to the virus, it was too late for the contact tracing and self-isolation to bring infections back under control. The Spring lock down was also, as it turned out, ordered too late with some estimates that a week’s delay in imposing the restriction could have cost twenty

thousand lives. Initially, at the outbreak of the pandemic, Asian countries were very fast to prepare for a major outbreak as China warned of the emergence of the virus. In the UK and other European countries simply did not believe that the coronavirus was a very serious threat.

QUESTIONS TO ANSWER

A lot of the criticism levelled at the government is around communication and transparency, failures in which undermined public confidence around the required social distancing rules.

There is no doubt that there is a lot of be proud of in the UK as the vaccines are now being delivered, but there will be many questions to be answered. The success or otherwise of the UK’s handling of the pandemic will no doubt be endlessly discussed and judged in years to come.

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BREAKFAST LIKE A KING? As many of us battle against gaining too much weight in yet another lockdown, I remembered an article that appeared last year in the sun which suggested that if you eat a big breakfast you will lose weight faster and burn twice as many calories than you would if you ate a big dinner.

That reminded me of the old saying – breakfast like a King , lunch like a Prince and eat supper like a pauper. The idea is obviously that we have more opportunity to burn off calories if we eat most of our calories earlier in the day than if we eat a large meal later in the day.

Research done in Germany* has supported the fact that people will burn off more calories after their large breakfast then

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after a big dinner. Those who have breakfasted heartily also experience less hunger pangs in the afternoon and evening. The German study however included only 16 people and all of the study participants were healthy young men. In this German research group none of those included in it were trying to lose any weight and in fact the study did not measure any weight loss as part of its findings. The German study also consisted of a three day experiment in the laboratory where the men were given set meals to eat and did no physical exercise. That means that realistically we have no way of knowing whether the result of the German study would be relevant to women trying to lose weight or to other people suffering the health complications of obesity.

it is true to say however, that other studies have suggested but if you eat a healthy breakfast you may feel less hungry during the rest of the day and this might help people who are trying to stick to a Weight Loss Diet. Certainly skipping breakfast and eating more later because you are ravenous is unlikely to help with any weight loss effort.

Clearly the best thing to do is to eat a balanced diet and to eat proportionately through the day.

For those working within the NHS and on shift patterns this can be difficult but it is interesting to keep in mind that eating the most, the longest time before you’re likely to sleep, should be advantageous. *The research was carried out the study in the University of Lubeck in Germany.

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VOLUNTEERS GO THE EXTRA MILE There have been many high profile cases of people going the extra mile for the NHS, Captain Sir Tom Moore being a shining example. During the pandemic however, up and down the country there have been equally selfless sacrifices being made by people, anxious to help.

One example are the hundreds of volunteers who, during the COVID-19 pandemic, have been going the extra mile in support of Yorkshire Ambulance Service, NHS Trust (YAS).

From the 1st-7th June 2020 in Volunteers’ Week, the spotlight was turned on these invaluable volunteers who had supported the Trust at a time when demand was at unprecedented levels.

The ambulance service was at its busiest in March 2020 with an increase in demand of about 40% in response to 999 calls, while for 111 calls that number jumped to 124%.

The volunteer team of Community First Responders (CFRs) gave an average combined total of 670 hours each day to support the ambulance’s service response to

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999 patients while more than 100 volunteer in the Patient Transport Service (PTS) undertook more than 11,000 non-emergency trips, transporting patients to essential medical and health care appointments.

YAS provided extra training so that almost 130 CFRs could undertake alternative roles with an extra 100 volunteers receiving training in case their help was needed.

Some of the roles undertaken by volunteers included: • Ambulance station cleaning • Waste transportation • Taking PTS bookings and NHS 111 calls • Working as resource dispatchers and call handlers in the Ambulance service’s Emergency Operations Centre • Undertaking Ambulance Care Assistant roles within PTS • Fitting bulkheads in PTS vehicles to ensure social distancing and to minimise risk of infection Rod Barnes, Chief Executive for YAS was quoted as saying,

“The response from our volunteers has been astonishing and I want to offer my heartfelt appreciation and gratitude on behalf of YAS for all they are doing to support the service and communities across Yorkshire; their willingness to help us in this national emergency has been really heart-warming. Not only have many of them continued to carry out their usual roles as CFRs and PTS volunteers, they have also stepped forward to support us in other areas of the organisation. This has meant we have needed to organise training courses at short notice to ensure they have the necessary skills, but everyone has shown a professional, resilient and flexible approach to adapt to the necessary operational and clinical changes.”

This is just one of the stories from across the UK that highlights the work that volunteers have been doing to support essential services during the pandemic. At NHS Advertiser we would love to hear any stories you have of volunteers and the contribution they have made to your area of work during the pandemic.

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INNOVATION

IN THE FACE OF COVID-19 In April last year, at the height of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, specialist services at Walkergate Park in Newcastle set up a ‘wobble room’ for their staff to help them by offering them a well-deserved time-out.

The ‘wobble room’ was designed to provide a space where people could relax and reflect and look after their mental health during that most difficult time for NHS front line staff.

As well as that, ‘virtual wobble rooms’ were also set up for Trust staff who at that time were working remotely were based somewhere where they could not access a physical room that had been set up.

The Trust also reported that their team on Cheviot Ward within the hospital had been working

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with learning disability patients, to support understanding of Covid-19 using the ‘waves of wellness’ experiment that demonstrated why hand-washing was so important.

Another team, the sports team at Bamburgh Clinic, created exercise videos to help their patients who were isolating, to stay active.

The team on the hospitals Bede ward put together ‘Positivity Boxes’ for patients who needed to self-isolate. The boxes contained crosswords, colouring challenges and quizzes, as well as a writing pad and some envelopes. There was also a sensory lamp, a CD mindfulness and relaxation CD player and to go with it to help those selfisolating patients to relax.

The Newcastle and Gateshead Crisis Resolution and Home Treatment Team did their bit by starting a ‘Keep on Keeping on’ wall of wellbeing messages and photographs to boost staff and patient morale while patients on Alnmouth ward in the Morpeth hospital wrote poetry expressing how they felt about the pandemic, giving them an excellent way of expressing their feelings.

With the new COVID-19 lock down there will no doubt be more inspirational ideas being implemented by NHS Trusts all over the UK. We would love to hear about any measures being taken in your Trust that we can share with readers of the NHS Advertiser.

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A hospice nurse says thank you.

During the darkest days of the corona virus pandemic there have been moments when we have all been moved by a very personal story. One such story involved in a hospice nurse named Janine Warner who worked at Acorns children’s hospice in Worcester.

BLOWN AWAY BY KINDNESS

This nurse sent a very emotional message expressing her thanks to shop workers after she had been overwhelmed by their particular gesture of thanks towards her. The hopsice nurse was completely blown away by the gesture of gratitude extended to her by the staff of her local garage shop. As she presented her shopping to be paid for she was given a substantial discount in recognition of the vital work she was doing during the Covid 19 crisis.

CHILDREN’S MEALS

Janine had called at the shop to buy some food that she would leave at home for her four children while she was at work. The staff in the garage shop recognised her as the Deputy Head Nurse from the local hospice and decided that she deserved their gratitude in the form of a discount. At first, Janine recount-

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ed, with rationing in place, she thought that perhaps she had taken too many items and that the ladies behind the till who were whispering to each other, were about to ask her to put some of the things she had in her basket, back on the shelves. But Janine was in for a big surprise when she realised that she had been given a discount. The staff explained that they were giving discounts to NHS front line staff, but recognised that Janine too was playing her part as she did her job during the crisis. Their gesture reduced Janine to tears.

QUICK TO SAY THANK YOU

Janine was quick to express her thanks and sent a heartfelt video message to the staff of the shop to thank them for their kindness and recognition. She said “It put me on such a high that someone had been so kind and said thank you for something I do every day as a nurse. I’m so blown away by the kindness and that’s made me

realise how saying thank you is so important.”

PULLING TOGETHER

Janine said that she was humbled by the kindness and consideration of shop staff and realised how important it was that everybody, no matter what their job, pulled together to help society get through the Covid 19 crisis. The hospice in which Janine works had done its part during the coronavirus crisis in launching emergency plans to help vulnerable local families in the West Midlands with some 600 families being supported as they isolated to care for vulnerable poorly children. Volunteers and staff had made deliveries of essential care packages that also included games and treats for the children. They also offered emotional support to local families.

For the first time in its thirty-year history, the hospice also closed as the decision was made to offer the building to the NHS to help in the fight against coronavirus.

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THE CHALLENGE FOR THE NHS, POST COVID 19 While our attention has been on the death toll from corona virus there have been other equally serious consequences of the pandemic. As attention was diverted to the efforts needed to protect the population from coronavirus those who were already ill with other conditions had the treatments delayed interrupted or cancelled altogether. Then there were the routine operations cancelled a replacement hips and knees, causing serious backlog that will have to be tackled once the Covid 19 crisis is over. The number of procedures and routine operations cancelled has been estimated by one source at over 700,000 a month. That’s a lot of overtime!

STAYING AWAY

Then they were the people who knew that they run well and even suspected they might have had will be having a stroke or heart attack, who instead are presenting to A&E stayed away. This may be because they didn’t want to visit a hospital during a pandemic and run the risk of catching the virus, or it may have been but they didn’t want to be an added burden to the NHS. This will have a knock-on effect when these people eventually are treated and, because they will have extra medical complications due to the delay in seeking treatment.

SCREENING STOPPED

Another casualty of the Covid 19 pandemic are the excellent screening programs that have been set up and work very successfully for years into detecting cancers early. The consequences of a delay in this type of screening is yet to be calculated, and may not become clear for some time. Figures from cancer research suggest that the drop off in our sugar thousand GPs as well as screening has resulted in around 2750 fewer people having diagnoses made, for each week of the pandemic.

In schools vaccination with MNR has been paused and there is no

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be no screening for diabetic eye disease.

LACK OF REGULAR CONTACT

For those with chronic conditions such is kidney disease or diabetes the lack of regular Contacts with specialist nurses and health professionals, is likely to have a detrimental effect as well.

MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS

For those who have before the pandemic was suffering from psychiatric or psychological conditions, locked down and the restrictions necessary through the pandemic may have done incalculable damage. The pressure on mental-health professionals is likely to be enormous as they deal with the aftermath of mental health crises brought on by the pandemic lockdown, and the fear factor that the whole world has been living with over the first months of 2020.

This all serves to remind us, that the work of the NHS hello sweetie paste that here what’s happening is just beginning as the immediate threat of the coronavirus fades, there will be serious consequences, worldwide that are directly related to this period of history the effect of which will be Felt for many years to come

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How Fire-fighters fought the Covid 19 pandemic Early on in the Covid 19 crisis fire fighters took their place at the forefront of the fight to keep people in all the U.K.’s communities safe. They were called on to deliver medicine and food to take the wheel of ambulances and even given the responsibility of collecting dead bodies. The new and extended role of the fire service was actioned after an agreement that was unprecedented and was reached between the FBU (Fire Brigades Union), fire and rescue employers and fire chiefs that between them are responsible for some 48,000 fire fighters in whole of the UK.

GROUND BREAKING

It was a ground-breaking move and it was also the first time that all these groups of stakeholders had a combined to produce a National response as a result of the Covid crisis. The new responsibilities of fire fighter groups included: • THE DELIVERY OF ESSENTIAL MEDICINES AND FOOD TO VULNERABLE PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITY • ASSISTING AMBULANCE CREWS AND DRIVING AMBULANCES WHERE NEEDED • PICKING UP THE BODIES OF THOSE WHO HAD DIED OF

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COVID 19 FROM WITHIN THE COMMUNITY • CONTINUING TO ATTEND ROAD TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS AND INSTANCES OF FIRE EMERGENCIES AND OTHER DUTIES THAT CONSTITUTED THEIR NORMAL DUTIES AS THE FIRE FIGHTERS Throughout the crisis the organisation’s responsible for the agreement met on a weekly basis so that the situation could be reviewed and to review any additional requests made of them in support of other emergency services during the Covid 19 crisis. Additional training and full PPE was also made available

fire fighters undertaking their new role that was initially put in place for two months from March 2020 with regular reviews and extension where it was necessary.

In the early days of the Covid 19 crisis it was feared that the numbers of casualties could well become overwhelming, and fire fighters who are used working in high pressured and often harrowing situations were ideally placed to help the NHS and prevent it becoming overwhelmed.

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The trouble with PPE At the height of the coronavirus crisis, hardly any news bulletin passed without some reference to personal protective equipment (PPE). The British Medical Association were issuing dire warnings that doctors were being put in the impossible position of having to choose whether to risk their lives to treat patients without adequate PPE. Meanwhile Adult Social Services officials were saying that the situation in care homes was shambolic with staff struggling to get hold of even the basic gloves, aprons and goggles that were needed. So what went wrong with PPE?

WERE WE PREPARED?

There is the old saying ‘to fail to prepare is to prepare to fail’. Is that what happened in the UK? There is no doubt that the UK is seen as an international leader when it comes to the planning for pandemic situations and public health in general. In the northwest of England is a mammoth warehouse where millions of items of PPE equipment are stored in a temperature-controlled environment. This stockpile was used immediately that the crisis started, but given the complaints that not enough of it has been available you might be surprised to know that some stock still remains in that particular warehouse.

WHY THE SHORTAGE?

So given that the warehouse still has items of PPE in it, why are frontline staff still struggling to get hold of the kit that they need?

Part of the problem is the supply chain problem when supplies are

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proving difficult to source. Fulllength theatre gowns, of the sort worn by staff in ICU have been particularly difficult to get hold of. The reason for this is that only one manufacturer supplies these gowns and other items to the UK. The gowns, that are fluid repellent, are made of specialist material and even although they would have wanted to, other manufacturers have been unable to change their current manufacturing setups to accommodate production of the specialist material.

COMPETING ON THE INTERNATIONAL MARKET The UK like every other country in the world has found itself competing on the international market for what supplies it could get.

Looking to other manufacturers, perhaps unsurprisingly in China, has been problematic as its factories have also been victims of the disruption caused by the pandemic. One example is an

order for 200,000 theatre gowns that in actual fact contained only 20,000 of the garments, when it arrived.

DISTRIBUTION DOLDRUMS

Even on occasions when equipment has been available for distribution the distribution networks have been struggling. It has had to cope, since the pandemic began, with a massive 1 billion pieces of PPE being distributed and the sheer size of the task has overwhelmed the logistics and distribution industry at times.

Distribution networks are coping better now but there is still an urgent need to ensure that new kit can be sent out to replace constantly discarded old kit.

There will be many lessons to be learned from the 2020 global pandemic and I’m sure we all hope that supply of vital items like PPE will be at the top of the learning curve.

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‘MY MORAL DUTY’ THE EX-NHS STAFF GOING BACK TO FIGHT CORONAVIRUS THE DOCTOR, 62

Nick Mudge spent nearly 40 years in the NHS as a doctor, retiring two years ago, and has recently joined the thousands of medical professionals heading back to the service to join the fight against coronavirus.

“It’s a national emergency and health service workers are very much on the frontline so there’s increased odds that they could contract the virus and we need to maintain a healthy workforce,” said Mudge, 62, who will be heading to work at Poole NHS foundation trust.

THE SPECIALIST NURSE, 55

Louise Jennings, a retired specialist nurse from Lancashire, wants to help where she can.

“I only stopped working for the NHS last September but I feel it’s my moral duty to return,” she said. “There’s no reason why I can’t.”

Jennings, who specialises in gynaecology ultrasound scanning, did not receive a letter or email from the government,

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Over the course of his career, he worked in a variety of roles, including as head of blood sciences managing a large team.

He thinks that not only will he be able to bring the basic medical skills required for the job, but the “experience and wisdom of handling crises [that] I think will be very useful”, particularly among a younger workforce.

Mudge said his family – including four children and five grandchildren – were worried but supportive of his decision,

but contacted Burnley general hospital to offer her services.

“I don’t think I was contacted because I’m still registered,” said Jennings. “I contacted the lead radiographer and they said they would be delighted to have me back.

“I can’t work in an intensive care unit to set up drips, as I haven’t done that for more than 30 years, but I can help with diagnosing cancers. Even with

although he will have to physically distance himself from his wife at home when returning from work and is fully aware of the risks of catching the virus.

“I’m 62 years old. The figures deteriorate as you get older, but I’ve no underlying health conditions,” he said.

“I would rather catch the virus doing something good and trying to actively help people than skulk away in a corner and pick it up going to the supermarket, so I’m meeting it head-on really.”

the coronavirus, people are still presenting with these lifethreatening conditions and need our help.”

Jennings, who has been a specialist nurse for 18 years and qualified 35 years ago, is not apprehensive about returning.

“I’m experienced, I live only three miles from the hospital and can drive there. I’m happy to just roll up my sleeves and get on with it.”

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LENDING A HAND THE SUN’S HELPING HAND HEROES COME TO THE AID OF

STRUGGLING NHS WORKERS

The Sun’s Helping Hand Heroes are coming to the aid of struggling NHS workers.

A fleet of 11 luxury tour buses have been offered by trucking boss Ed Thomson to help hospital staff on breaks.

He said: “All the buses are sitting doing nothing. I really hope some hospitals take us up on this — free of charge.”

His firm also has 41 vans it wants to help deliver food or be used as NHS staff taxis.

Andrew Hart, boss of Bite Me Burger, in Chalk Farm, North London, has been making free burgers with charity Lenderhand for staff at the Royal Free Hospital, UCH and Charing Cross Hospital.

Ed’s Vans for Bands usually ferries groups such as Elbow and Primal Scream to concerts around the country.

Ruth Panter donated £100 to Kettering General Hospital, Northants, where nurses have appealed for walkie-talkies and baby monitors to help staff communicate.

But after all tours were cancelled, Ed, 45, from Oxford, wants hospitals to use the 16-bed buses as luxury accommodation for tired staff.

Fiona Ladipo is buying wellington boots for her sister who works in the intensive care unit at Northwick Park Hospital, Harrow, North London, because the NHS

40

cannot supply them quickly enough.

Student Jamie Harkin, 18, has been giving away free calendars with uplifting messages to cheer up NHS staff and care workers in Co Tyrone, Northern Ireland.

Pario Leisure has handed 250 beds at two of its holiday parks in North Wales to struggling NHS staff.

Tan Rallt Holiday Home Park and Spa, in Abergele, and Marine Holiday Park, in Rhyl, are both very close to Glan Clwyd Hospital, where staff are coping with a surge in coronavirus cases.

Park owner Wyn Williams and his family handed over the use of the rooms in lodges and caravans free of charge to the Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board, which runs the hospital.

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UNSUNG HEROES? Since the first message about singing ‘happy birthday’ twice as we washed our hands, a very important part of battling the Covid 19 crisis has been cleaning and hygiene.

A VITAL JOB

Spare a thought for those whose job it is to keep places like hospitals, schools and care homes clean and the extra work and risk they are facing as they do their bit during the pandemic.

For those in charge of cleaning businesses, especially those that are contracted to clean hospitals, they have a very serious responsibility to keep their staff safe.

One cleaning business owner from Swindon has many doctors’ surgeries as clients and recently was tasked with deep cleaning after a female patient was suspected to have caught the virus.

“It made it all very real for me” Business owner Sharon Armitage said, “We looked like aliens dressed up in our full protection PPE. I did feel quite frightened. I am not in the first flush of youth and do have some underlying health conditions. But this is our

44

job and we needed to do it to keep other people safe.”

THE ALIENS HAVE LANDED

Marie Leslie, who is part of Sharon’s team, said that people could often be quite alarmed when they saw the team turning up to clean in full PPE. “For that reason we do tend to try and do cleaning early in the morning or in the evening when there are fewer people around. When we had to go and clean the doctor’s surgery, after the suspected case was reported, I felt the weight of responsibility to ensure that we had done everything thoroughly and properly and left no stone unturned with our cleaning.”

EXHAUSTING

Sharon explained how exhausting the job could be. “We had to go in clean a care home where there had already been a death from Covid 19. I took a team of

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It can be easy for the rest of us to overlook the work done by people who clean on our behalf, during the coronavirus crisis. There is no doubt that those people have been tasked with and are doing a brilliant job of keeping up hygiene levels and they certainly deserve all our thanks.

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CORONAVIRUS: NHS STAFF STRUGGLE TO GET FOOD AMID LONG QUEUES DURING TESCO PRIORITY HOUR

Many NHS staff struggled to buy food from Tesco stores on Sunday as huge queues caused chaos during the supermarket’s priority hour for health workers.

NHS staff said they were refused entry to stores or had to leave queues over social distancing fears.

The death toll from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, has reached 281, and there have been than 5,600 confirmed cases of the illness.

Tesco has announced that NHS staff will be given a priority hour before the usual opening time every Sunday to get essential items ahead of the general public during the coronavirus outbreak.

But many NHS workers said the system did not work on

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Sunday, resulting instead in huge queues of people.

They had been told they could gain access to Tesco stores by showing a form of NHS identification, but several NHS staff said on social media that they were unable to access their local stores.

research fellow at the University of Birmingham, tweeted: “Unbelievable scenes @Tesco Birmingham.

“1hr early opening @NHSuk staff = nice idea, but extremely poorly executed – no queuing, no crowd control, no physical distancing – high-risk behaviours.”

Audrey Whyte, an employment and mental health specialist, said on Twitter that she gave up queuing outside Tesco in Telford, Shropshire.

Georgia Layton, a cardiothoracic surgery trainee, said she encountered problems at a Tesco in Leicester.

She accused Tesco of issuing “misleading info” and said she was told to wait in “miles and miles” of queues despite having her NHS ID.

She tweeted: “Slightly more organised queue but I left after 15 minutes… didn’t feel it was worth the risk of being in such a big crowd.

She said a number of people trying to get in were not NHS staff.

“Especially as I feel we NHS staff could easily become super spreaders. Found a metro store which was quieter & controlled.”

Dr James Glasbey, a doctoral

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