COVID-19 Short Videos

The male predilection for this disease is becoming clear, particularly in severe disease. 90% of the referrals I receive today for unwell new patients are male, as are 80% of those ventilated. Tonight at home I remind my furloughed husband that he must avoid unnecessary outings, keep an even wider berth on his runs, and when doing the supermarket shop to wipe down the trolley handle, and wipe down all products before he puts them away

In order to take some control in an otherwise uncontrollable situation I looked at ways we could stay healthy as a family. I started to run to work (it’s only a mile, and I can change into scrubs at the other end – I’m never letting the scrubs go!), simplified our shop (cut out processed food, shopped local where possible, and reduced the availability of gin! I seem to have spent most of lockdown in the kitchen cooking from scratch, baking with the children or making every type of bread. Our daily exercise adventures for to our local beach and an encyclopaedic knowledge of the local walkways has been a godsend and kept us all sane – outdoor school was always more successful. I’ve always been keen to lead a healthy lifestyle and lockdown provided the space to make this lifestyle work for the family, but they were missing their friends, and getting angry about their loss of freedom

Today is a hard day, and it has been a long week – staying late at work every night just to try to keep abreast with the rate of change, troubleshoot, and support. We are working more closely with management than ever before; traditional roles are eroded. The furious preparations continue – shuffling and reshuffling, design and redesign, hard lines built and overcome, endless cycles in the course of each day

Debate about PPE rages. We have little choice; accept the limited PPE we have, or none at all. I spend my day off sourcing supplies. There are none, but I manage to secure a set of scrubs after 30 minutes on hold. The customer advises me that most are sold out, but scrambles to find a set in an appropriate colour that, sewing skills allowing, I may be able to adapt to a rough fit. I gratefully accept

One (patient) is a young man with crashing acute renal failure. He was discharged a month ago after a complex admission, on new medications, the likely culprit for his AKI. Like many other patients, he is now frightened of the risks of hospital, and has presented very late. We know him from his recent admission, and feel frightened and guilty that he has waited this long to come in. He is transferred immediately for dialysis. Where are our other patients, our regular attenders? Are they ok?

Despite the national incomprehensible losses and waking up to an unrecognisable post-lockdown United Kingdom, I see opportunity ahead for those able to access it. I am hoping that many more people will now be aware of the need for behaviour change, personal and societal, and am ready to do my part going forward

I arrive home at 8.15pm; at 8pm the entire country held a “clap for your NHS” event. The news and social media are filled with clips of the public in their gardens, balconies and windows, cheering and clapping and singing for us. I missed this, driving home on an empty motorway, but still shed a little tear at the outpouring of support. Despite this, I have for the first time come home feeling a little defeated. Maybe the tears are more than emotion at “clap for the NHS”. Maybe, I hope, I am just tired