Airedale Hospital matron unable to see father as he died of Covid in her hospital

• Video report by Katie Oscroft

A hospital matron has spoken of her heartache at being unable to see her father as he died of Covid-19 in intensive care just metres away from where she worked.

Malcolm Reeves lost his life during the first wave of the virus in April 2020 after receiving care at Airedale Hospital in West Yorkshire.

His daughter Angela McGarry works as a matron on various wards at the hospital, but visiting restrictions meant she could not be with him in his final moments.

He died while she was at work on another ward.

She said: "The hardest thing being here, like relatives everywhere, is that you can't see your loved one, and he was literally a hand away. [It was] so extremely tough. But he wouldn't have wanted it any other way – doing what I did, being here, for everyone.

"You get told you're a daughter but I had to go into nurse mode. And a lot of nurses find that, that we're nurses and that's what we cling on to.

"He wouldn't want me sat at home. This is the best thing that I could have done for him."

Angela, who has had Covid twice herself, says it was "extremely difficult" knowing her father was so unwell in her hospital.

She said: "He was really proud and the biggest thing when he came to hospital was 'my daughter's a matron', and I kept saying, 'don't tell anyone'.

"But he was larger than life. He absolutely loved the care he got at Airedale. His messages were constant about the care that he got, and I was really proud very much to the end of my team and my hospital."

"There's been lots more of deaths of colleagues' families since me and visitors. It helps me have that compassion towards them. I understand and I empathise with what they're going through. It's helpful for people to know that."

In April 2020, ITV News filmed frontline staff at Airedale Hospital through a window at the start of their journey into uncharted medical territory.

While Covid claims fewer lives today than when Malcolm died, it has already caused significant staffing problems at Airedale this year and the workforce is already braced for the next wave of the virus.

Angela said: "We don't know what's around the corner. We're into year two now it's been incredibly tough personally but we're here to do the best by our patients and our staff."

Chief executive of Airedale Hospital, Rob Aitchison, said: "We saw higher numbers of absence, particularly in the early in this new year. We reached around 12% absence, which is far higher than we've seen in previous peaks of Covid.

"Right now, I think that is starting to subside a little bit and we're getting people back to work, but it's absolutely going to be our key challenge moving forward if we see any further peaks in Covid."