Massive burden being placed on our tireless teams of NHS angels
Nurses working tirelessly on the coronavirus frontline across the Black Country and Staffordshire are facing increasing pressure and stress as they grieve another lost member.
Stafford County Hospital nurse Patrick McManus died on Sunday at the age of 60, after working in nursing for more than 40 years. He had tested positive for Covid-19.
His death follows that of Elsie Sazuze, a mother-of-two and nurse who worked in Cannock and who also died after battling coronavirus. The 44-year-old, who was employed by Totallycare in Wolverhampton, self-isolated after showing symptoms of coronavirus but had to be taken to hospital and put on a ventilator as her condition deteriorated.
The married mother-of-two died earlier this month at the Good Hope Hospital in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham.
Concerns have been raised about the dangers to nurses working on the front line, although no direct link has yet been made between those infected and their exposure at work.
The latest death revealed in Stafford comes as the debate about the quality of personal protective equipment in hospitals across the UK continues. Mr McManus had been a nurse for more than 40 years and had worked at North Staffordshire Royal Infirmary prior to working in Stafford, where he had been for about 10 years.
Another nurse, from Sandwell, revealed how she had beaten off the virus after being admitted to the hospital where she works. She urged her colleagues and members of the public to not delay and to get help sooner if they are suffering symptoms of the virus.
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The mother-of-one, who underwent a kidney transplant in 2015, was able to fight off the disease and has said how grateful she is for the care she received.
She said: "If I hadn’t dialled 999, who knows what sort of condition I would be in now.
"The care I received was brilliant and NHS staff are doing everything they can to help patients.
"I am so much better than I was a week ago. I’m just glad that I got treatment when I did."
Charlene works at Sandwell Hospital in Smethwick and was initially taken there for treatment having first suffered shortness of breath on April 12.
"I just couldn’t breathe," she said. "I called for an ambulance and it all felt like a big blur. I got into A&E and then I was put into isolation because of my symptoms.
"I was treated with antibiotics and tested for coronavirus. Because of my kidney condition, I was transferred to another hospital for further treatment. My results for Covid-19 came back positive. I was in a bad way for the first two days and I was very scared.
"But I soon started responding to the treatment and began improving."
She added: "I think there are maybe people out there who think they don’t need to go to hospital or believe that their situation will worsen if they do go. However, my condition definitely improved thanks to the care I received."
Boris Johnson singled out nurses Jenny McGee and Luis Pitarma for thanks after he left St Thomas’ hospital following his treatment. He revealed how they had stayed by his bedside through the night to ensure he was getting adequate oxygen into his lungs.
Many of those who are helping to fill nursing posts in hospitals across the West Midlands are former nurses who have returned to the profession, or student nurses nearing the end of their course who have been taken on early.
A total of 200 student nurses from the University of Worcester are among those who have joined the ‘NHS Army’ in the fight against coronavirus.
They joined nearly 15,000 student nurses, midwives and medical students nationally joining frontline NHS teams.
Robert Dudley, head of the university’s Three Counties School of Nursing and Midwifery, said: “We are working hard to support our students in every way possible, including establishing a new Shiftline service, which students can call before or after a shift to speak to a member of the university’s counselling and mental health team if they need additional support.
"This is a really challenging time for the entire country and our students are making the most wonderful contribution for which we are all extremely proud of each and every one of them.”
