County Durham NHS staff on the frontline say, 'we miss being able to hug patients’

But teams and individuals across County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust have dug deep and continued to face the challenges thrown at them.

Here we talk to just a few of those people about what they have experienced.

Tony McCoy

Tony McCoy – Macmillan clinical nurse specialist

“I work in the community, looking after patients with life limiting conditions, including cancer. I offer symptom management and emotional support. During the pandemic we’ve been challenged to work in different ways. I still visit patients in their home but have had to find alternatives to the close contact that’s always been an important part of what we do.W earing a mask, the patient can only see my eyes, they can’t see me smiling at them. So I make sure to use eye contact and choose my words very carefully as verbal communication has become more important. Some patients have asked me not to come because they’re isolating and scared, they prefer a phone call. I worry about them being isolated so try to make sure that during the phone call I connect with them every bit as closely as if we were in the same room. We’re also using video consultations which are great and will certainly be important in the future – the next best thing to face to face. Plus, there’s no travel time so calls can be longer or I can consult with more patients. I’ve worked much more closely with district nurses, re-thinking how best to coordinate our two roles, giving patient’s the care they need while reducing footfall in their house. It all works well but I really miss being able to hug my patients.”

Christine Biglin

Nicola Steel and Chris Biglin – catering managers, making sure patients and staff are well fed

Chris says: “My team focuses on providing three nutritional meals a day, every single day of the year, across the trust’s eight sites, including meeting special dietary requirements which can be quite complex for some patients. We make food from scratch, using fresh ingredients, mostly sourced locally. We have a chilled van that delivers the food and an automated system that means patients don’t have to order all their meals a day in advance as used to be the case –during the morning, they order what they fancy for lunch. Our work hasn’t changed during the last 12 months, although some of our team have been isolating or ill, so that’s brought extra pressure. On average, each week we make 8,744 hot main courses, 282 cold salads, 2,487 cold sandwiches, 5,945 portions of soup, 4,134 hot desserts and 1,860 cold desserts.”

Nicola Steel

Nicola runs the staff catering service at Darlington Memorial Hospital, and says: “During the first weeks of the pandemic the Trust offered a free hot meal and hot drink to all staff. We went from serving around 200 hot lunches a day to over 1,200. We kept the menu simple and also offered sandwiches. We put social distancing in place and I’m incredibly proud of my team for coping with this demand, working extended and different shifts to ensure colleagues were well fed. We’ve returned to our normal service – but without self-service and pre-wrapped cutlery. Hollies Restaurant in Darlington has become a place for colleagues to take a short break and the trust’s charity team bought large recliner chairs, which are very popular.”

Peter Chalmers

Peter Chalmers – Porter, Darlington Memorial Hospital

“It has been a tough year in all sorts of ways. Things that had never changed in all the 30 years that I have worked in this hospital. Wards and clinics moving around, lots of new staff as well as new procedures to help the fight against Covid-19. A lot of new porters were employed – probably as many as we already had. It was challenging at first adapting to so much change and working with so many new people but I have to say they have and continue to do a fantastic job, as do all my colleagues here.

“It has been upsetting not just dealing with such poorly patients but seeing colleagues and friends suffering the effects of Covid-19, both physically and mentally. Hopefully, as the mass vaccination programme progresses, we’ll see an end to this suffering and return to a new normal, whatever that may be.”