But, the medics at Whiston Hospital in Knowsley – a Merseyside borough which has seen some of the highest infection rates in the country – say they will soldier on as numbers of patients with the virus start to approach the levels they were at the peak of the pandemic. Ward manager Nadine McStein said adrenaline had powered staff through the first wave of the virus but, after a lull during the summer, it had “come back and hit us with a vengeance”.
She said: “Staff are exhausted. They soldier on.”
Ms McStein said she felt the virus was now “unrelatable” for the general public.
She added: “I don’t think they appreciate the extent of what the NHS is going through.
“It’s disheartening to see people protesting and people going against the rules and regulations because we are definitely seeing the impact that’s having on people now.”
The hospital’s medical director Rowan Pritchard Jones said there were concerns about whether communities were following advice.
He said: “It is so difficult for those of us who walk in every day to care for the most critically ill patients that we know someone sprayed ‘hoax’ on the side of a town hall. But they have.
“We work really hard to be upfront with our community who we are here to care for. We need them to do their bit as well to try and manage these numbers.”
Clinical director of intensive care Dr Ascanio Tridente said there were more than 120 patients with coronavirus in the hospital, compared with fewer than 10 at the start of September. He said the pressures had taken a “significant toll” on staff.
