Life on the Covid frontline at Taunton's Musgrove Park Hospital
Watch: Ben McGrail's report from Musgrove Park Hospital's Covid-19 frontline.
Frontline staff at a West Country hospital say they are under more pressure now than during the first wave of the pandemic.
Doctors and nurses at Taunton’s Musgrove Park Hospital told ITV News West Country they are currently treating more Covid patients than ever before.
They said they are also seeing record numbers of in-patients and those in critical care, adding to the strain on services.
Intensive care nurse Jo Newey said she and her colleagues need support at home to “get over” what they are going through at work.
“Obviously, we’ve been here through the entire pandemic and we're certainly seeing larger volumes this time round,” she said.
‘More pressure than ever before’
Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Musgrove Park, has recorded a 16 per cent rise in Covid patients since Christmas.
Dr Dan Meron, who is Chief Medical Officer at the trust, said “we need to do whatever we can” to slow infection rates.
“At the moment, we’re dealing with more Covid-related pressure than we’ve ever done before, including the first wave of Covid,” he said.
“We are seeing more people at the front of our hospital, in our emergency department, in-patient and we have more people in our critical care than we’ve ever had before with Covid.
“My message is to people at home, it’s really clear - stay at home, protect the NHS, save lives, wash your hands, cover your faces and keep some space.”
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