'I've never been so proud to work for the NHS': Hospital staff on the coronavirus crisis

  • Video report by ITV News Correspondent Lucy Watson

Behind the army of frontline workers battling the coronavirus pandemic are the unsung heroes carrying out crucial roles behind the scenes to serve our health service.

Porters, cleaners, catering staff and logistics teams are often overlooked and undervalued but their work supporting doctors and nurses is critical to keeping the NHS alive.

ITV News was invited to spend a day at Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, an acute general hospital serving the south coast, to meet some of those key workers.

As we arrived, the hospital’s Supply Chain Manager Steve Randle, who is in charge of the delivery and distribution of PPE, received an order for 16,000 gloves, 1,500 lenses and frames for glasses, 3,000 aprons and 250 safety goggles.

This will last the hospital just 24 hours.

He told us: “This is the first time I’ve ever seen anything like this. It’s non-stop. It’s seven days a week, 24 hours a day on call.

“I live at the hospital now to make sure that I’m on call in case we’re needed and it’s what we need to do. We’ve got to make this hospital run as efficiently as we can.

“It’s a sense of duty but I need to lead my team. I can’t have the respect of the team if I’m not here leading them.”

We followed two of his team as they set off on a round of the wards, including those treating coronavirus patients, to replenish PPE stocks for the doctors and nurses.

They, like many we met over the course of the day, have a sense of duty and pride in their work.

Ken Mackenzie, who has worked at the Trust for 17 years, told us "no matter who you are - from the top to the bottom - we’re all in this".

The Logistics Supervisor said: “We really feel we’re doing our bit. This is nothing that we’ve seen before. It’s hectic."

PPE is a vital part of keeping hospital staff safe as they treat Covid-19 patients. Credit: ITV News

He added: “We’re getting a good response from all the nurses. They all realise that the PPE is coming in, that they know they can get hold of us for more PPE if they require it.

“There is a certain amount of risk coming on the ward but as long as you follow procedures, there shouldn’t be any problems.”

And Keith Baker, a Logistics Porter, said he’d “never been so pleased to work for the NHS”.

He said: “I think you have to get on and do it. It’s a job that needs to be done. Definitely a sense of duty. I’m proud of doing it as well. Pride in the NHS because we’re doing a service for the pubic.”

The hospital has 500 beds available, including critical care, and to date has discharged 65 patients who have been treated for coronavirus. It has recorded 30 coronavirus deaths since the pandemic was declared.

For the hospital porters, who transport patients around the hospital, the outbreak has increased the amount of time each job takes. They have to ensure they are wearing the correct PPE and dispose of it safely.

Porters help keep hospitals ticking. Credit: ITV News

Ian Walker, a who has worked at the hospital for 20 years, spoke to us as he helped move a patient from a ward to an ultrasound.

He said: “It’s just got a little bit busier – each job is a little bit longer than usual for us. I love what I do. I just crack on and do it. That’s what I’m here for.”

His colleague, Mitch Peddie, agreed: “Everything is pretty much the same, except everything takes longer. That is because of the measures we are having to take. Everyone has got to stay safe.

“At the start it was quite nerve wracking but at the minute it’s just another day. I think a lot of people take more notice of us – not just the nurses and doctors but everyone behind the scenes so it’s really nice.”

The third member of the team helping to move the patient was Ben Galton, a second year medical student who was carrying out his first shift at the hospital.

He said: “I feel really proud to be with such an important team. It is extremely daunting – this is my first day, it’s very busy, it’s just a learning curve that I have to try and roll with. The pride of being able to help and doing something so important for the country, it overwhelms you and subdues that feeling of worry.”

The porters also have the difficult job of moving bodies to the morgue. A reality Ben met on his first day.

Key workers are helping doctors and nurses in the fight against Covid-19. Credit: ITV News

He told us: “Sadly, because of the severity of Covid, some patients do unfortunately pass away and so as the porters, it’s our job to respectfully remove the person from the room and take them to the morgue. It’s obviously quite a difficult thing to do. The team are really supportive and everyone comes together and they make sure that the rest of the team is okay.”

The hospital’s Chief Registrar realised the new pressures and challenges faced by staff across the hospital as they fight coronavirus. She ensured they have a dedicated area, known as The Bubble, to escape to for space away from the wards.

Dr Laura Croucher, who is also a paediatric registrar at the hospital, said: “I think we experience a lot of things in this job, regardless of what your profession is within the hospital and sometimes people just need somewhere to chill out and have that space to collect their thoughts and have some time.

“There’s a lot of unknown and a lot of the coping mechanisms that we would use normally on a bad day have been taken away from us – we can’t go to the gym, we can’t go and meet friends and family. I think more than ever we need something else to provide that psychological hug and support.”

Among those under increased pressure are the hospital’s cleaners, for whom the workload has almost doubled due to the health crisis.

Every room occupied by a coronavirus patient undergoes a ‘terminal clean’ once they have been discharged. This is a deep clean of all the surfaces to ensure there is no trace of disease.

The cleaners would normally carry out around 450 ‘terminal cleans’ a month but in the last month there were almost 800.

We met Paul Hicks, an Interserve employee, as he prepared to clean a room recently occupied by a coronavirus patient.

Staff at the hospital potentially risk their lives helping others on a daily basis. Credit: ITV News

He said: “It is risky but we wear our proper PPE and we do what we’re supposed to do to stay safe. We signed on to clean and that’s what we do – whether it’s this virus or any other virus – we’re here to do the cleaning. If you worry about it, you’ll make yourself more anxious and frightened. We just come to work and do our job and get on with it. We want to make it safe for everyone.”

The kitchen was a hive of activity with the lunch service for patients and staff when we met chef Paul Rhodes who echoed colleagues across the hospital when he spoke of “pride” in his job.

He told us: “Without us providing the service to the patients and all the staff, they wouldn’t get fed. We do a service that makes everyone happy on a daily basis.

“It’s always been important to the NHS and just because of this Covid, doesn’t make it any different to what we do every day.

“Demand is probably a little bit higher but the team have all just knuckled down and got on with it. It’s pride – a lot of pride – but also duty because we’ve got a service to provide.”

As the nation prepares to clap again tonight for key workers, they will hopefully know the pride the country feels in them too.

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