Posted 14 November 2023 - 14:49
Posted 14 November 2023 - 14:49
News
Chief nurse worked ‘under cover’ in intensive care during pandemic
England’s chief nursing officer Ruth May, speaking at Nursing Live, also describes frustration at people failing to act with integrity during the emergency
England’s chief nursing officer Ruth May, speaking at Nursing Live, also describes frustration at people failing to act with integrity during the emergency
Chief nursing officer (CNO) Ruth May worked ‘under cover’ at a hospital intensive care unit during the pandemic, she revealed to fellow nurses as she shared stories of her most memorable patients.
England’s most senior nurse told a panel at Nursing Live, a two-day celebration of nursing run by RCNi, that she covertly returned to the front line working every Sunday at the intensive care unit (ITU) of Colchester Hospital while continuing her role at NHS England during COVID-19.
The panel, on which she was joined by Scotland’s deputy CNO Anne Armstrong and CNO for Wales Sue Tranka, was asked to reflect on patients who had made an impression on them.
Dame Ruth told the audience about two patients who stood out for her during her nursing career, including a paramedic she treated during the pandemic.
Chief nurse says she worked Sunday mornings in ITU during pandemic, and describes patient who stood out
‘The second patient would be the last patient I cared for properly, which was in wave two of the pandemic at Colchester intensive care unit,’ she said.
‘I worked there a lot under cover – they knew who I was but I didn’t make much of a thing of it. But most Sunday mornings I worked in the ITU as a nurse. There was a paramedic there who I cared for each Sunday and I will always remember that.’
She also shared a story of an older patient who she treated when she was a first-year nursing student. ‘She bought me a present but I never got to receive it from her as she had a cardiac arrest and died, but she was an amazing lady. She impacted on me because what she wanted from me was my compassionate care. The present was a flan dish, and I’ve still got it and I still use it’
East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Colchester Hospital, confirmed that Dame Ruth regularly worked at the trust during the pandemic.
At the time, chief medical officer for England Chris Whitty was reported to have worked shifts at University College Hospital in London during Christmas 2020 treating patients with COVID-19.
Dame Ruth also told the audience that one of the main frustrations she found with the job of CNO was when certain people failed ‘to act with integrity’.
May says leading the profession through a global health emergency was the toughest thing she has ever done
‘I’ve had the privilege to lead my profession through a global health emergency, and by God that’s the toughest thing I’ve ever done. I guess on a personal basis as well, the lack of integrity by some people is a massive frustration to me, and you probably know who.’
Her comments come after damning evidence presented to the UK COVID-19 inquiry, including WhatsApp messages from October 2020 in which then prime minster Boris Johnson reportedly stressed the need to ‘recalibrate’ away from a nationwide lockdown because it was mainly older people who were dying and that he did not ‘buy’ that the NHS was overwhelmed during the pandemic.
In other news