When the pandemic first hit, countless private sector firms leapt in to help the government – here are just some of them
EVEN WHEN MY HUSBAND COULDN’T RESPOND, THIS GAVE ME HOPE
When Diane’s husband fell ill with coronavirus and spent more than two weeks on a ventilator in intensive care, she was understandably terrified.
Sitting alone at home, unable to visit him because of the hospital’s strict cross-infection policy, was almost unbearable.
But then she was handed a lifeline.
Doctors let her see and talk to her husband virtually using a tablet app specially developed by medics distressed at the thought of families being ripped apart from their loved ones.
‘I spoke a lot to my husband, who was in hospital with Covid-19 for six weeks – 15 days on a ventilator – and it was the most wonderful thing,’ says Diane.
‘I was so scared at home on my own – but seeing him, even when he couldn’t respond, gave me hope. I just told him how much I loved him, how proud of him I was, and how much our kids and grandkids were missing him. ‘
The first time he was able to talk was when he’d been off the ventilator for three days, and his first words to me were: “I love you.” I cried and cried. It was beautiful.
‘When he came home, I asked him whether he’d heard my voice when he was so ill on the ventilator, fighting for his life. He said he remembered hearing me and that it had given him strength.’
Tech helping GPs work from home
Many GPs are now able to work from home, after a new secure system that lets them access confidential patient records was developed by business consultants Capita.
CEO of Government Services Andy Start says: ‘We came up with this solution in a couple of weeks – normally just the process of agreeing it would take months.
‘The desire to volunteer and respond to that “war” feeling was really palpable.’
The technology is currently being trialled by 500 doctors and, if successful, will be rolled out across the UK.
The Life Lines project is the brainchild of Louise Rose, professor of critical care nursing at King’s College London and Dr Joel Meyer, critical care consultant at Guy’s and St Thomas’.
‘I was reading about Italian families very early on, and the distressing stories about patients dying in ICU and the families not being with them really moved me,’ says Louise. ‘It’s a basic human need, wanting to be by someone’s bedside at that time.’
Working with BT, who donated 50 tablets, and app developers Aetonix, it took six weeks to turn the idea into reality and get the computers into hospitals.
There are now 1,046 tablets in 159 ICUs and they’ve made over 15,000 video calls – many funded by donations from grateful patients.
‘We’ve seen the saddest goodbyes, we’ve been able to connect people across continents,’ says Joel. ‘It’s quite common for patients to want to chat to their pets.
‘We’ve had a marriage proposal – a man, who was just about able to speak having recently come off a ventilator, wanted to propose to his girlfriend. And she said yes! Scenes like that, they really brighten all our days.’
For many relatives, just seeing their loved one wink or nod at them from ICU brings hope. And it also helps the sick.
Joel says: ‘I’ve spoken to patients, now discharged, who remember that wonderful sight of their family on the screen talking to them.’
WHAT WOULD NORMALLY TAKE YEARS, WE ARE DOING IN DAYS
When the Prime Minister challenged companies to manufacture the thousands of ventilators needed to help beat coronavirus, Babcock International stepped up.
Normally the engineering company makes parts for submarines and aircraft carriers, but decided to devote its considerable expertise to saving lives instead.
And what it has achieved is quite astonishing.
Chris Spicer, who headed the project, said: ‘On Monday, March 16, there was an email from our CEO asking if there was any way Babcock could provide support. By the Friday, we had a working prototype.’
The past few weeks have seen the original design tweaked and changed, as it became clearer what was needed, but Babcock’s design is set to begin clinical trials. It is hoped that the first machines will be in British hospitals next month.
‘The target we’ve been working to is within 100 days to have designed, developed and supplied 10,000 ventilators,’ says Chis.
‘Normally it would take between a year to two-and-a-half years of development.
‘We’re doing things in days that would usually take weeks or months – if not years.’
Knowing just how desperately needed the ventilators are has kept them going.
‘Everyone has been emotional about this. We all just want to help in any small way we can.
‘We all have relatives in vulnerable groups, and that’s been a driver – thinking if it was your father or granny in that scenario. My grandmother is in hospital at the moment, potentially with coronavirus – she’s 95, and came in from a care home.
‘For me it’s fantastic to be able to provide some support and to feel like we’re making a small difference to what’s going on.’
But it hasn’t been easy.
‘It’s been extremely challenging – everyone would say it’s the most difficult challenge they’ve ever faced, but no one would have done it any other way.
‘It’s day 58, and no one’s had a day off yet, and everyone’s been working a minimum 12-hour day, if not 16, 18 or 20.
‘I’ve never had to ask a single person to work an evening, a weekend or a bank holiday. In fact, it’s the opposite – I’ve had to tell people to take time off for a son’s birthday.’
Staff have been driving all over Europe to pick up vital supplies, and one young graduate even managed to persuade a small airport to stay open until 2am so that they could fly out an important prototype.
‘It makes me really proud to see how everybody has risen to the challenge’, says Chris.
FEEDING OUR MOST VULNERABLE CHILDREN
When Britain’s pupils were sent home from school in March, it left many of our most vulnerable children without a free hot, cooked lunch every day.
Knowing what a crucial service it is for some of our poorest families, a school trust in Yorkshire and its catering company stepped in to provide hampers stuffed with delicious food for the needy.
Now 550 children in the Wakefield area get a weekly box filled with essentials such as pasta, tuna, tomatoes and cheese, along with lovely recipe cards that they can colour in, suggesting ways to cook the goodies.
Pam Knox of the Waterton Academy Trust, which runs 13 school in the area, explains: ‘At first we provided packed lunches, but what that meant was that some of the children had to come to school to collect them.
‘It simply wasn’t working, and we had surplus food. People didn’t feel comfortable coming to school every day just to pick up a sandwich and perhaps a yogurt. So we looked at other options.’
They hit on the idea of a hamper containing lots of essentials instead, delivering the first in the Easter holidays because they were so desperate to get good food to the children.
‘THEIR WORK HAS BEEN REMARKABLE’
The amazing role these organisations have played during lockdown has been lauded by Cabinet Office minister Lord Agnew. He says: ‘The way we have seen many large organisations and their staff move from their normal day-to-day work into projects to help tackle coronavirus has been remarkable.’
‘We were delivering 130 packed lunches; we’re now delivering 550 hampers a week. The uptake of them has been fantastic,’ says Pam.
Deliveries are made by Waterton’s CEO Dave Dickinson, and the trust is helped by its caterers ISS Education, whose chefs come up with recipe ideas for the hampers.
Food services director Linda Cregan explains: ‘Our teams helped us to pull that together into a really helpful little package, with a set of recipe cards that had on them activities, different things that the children could do, and colouring.
‘The idea was that the recipes would use what was in the bag along with some store-cupboard staples that people generally have.
‘Families would then be able to create some quite easy-to-make meals. We’re trying to encourage more families to cook – but also enable children to cook with their families, too.’
The feedback they’ve received for their creative hampers has been overwhelming.
‘It’s really been welcomed,’ says Linda. ‘We’ve had children on Twitter showing us what they’ve been cooking with their recipe books. We had one local road that ran a competition for their children when they were colouring in the books and cooking their cakes.
‘We’ve had other parents showing off the colouring-in sheets that their children have done, so it’s been really nice. It’s been lovely to see.’
I TOOK ON THIS JOB BECAUSE IT’S THE RIGHT THING TO DO
As the coronavirus pandemic worsened, the British government took steps to ensure the country was prepared. As part of these measures, it worked to set up seven NHS Nightingale hospitals, temporary critical care centres to help in the fight against Covid-19.
But it was no mean feat.
These huge temporary buildings, some of which have capacity for 5,000 patients, were not immediately equipped to function as safe and effective hospitals.
Everything that a normal hospital depends on each day, from adequate bedding and catering to cleaning and maintenance, was needed to get these sites up and running fast.
Fortunately, the global construction and support-services company Interserve stepped up to the challenge.
The company already provides 11 NHS hospitals with a number of crucial services, including six healthcare centres, the London Ambulance Service and the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service, to name a few.
It also helps with the facilities that we all take for granted, such as providing security to NHS centres nationwide, cleaners, porters and a huge number of maintenance teams, who help keep everything from vehicles to life-saving equipment running smoothly.
But in the NHS’s time of need, Interserve and its employees went one step further. Abdel Elaabdi is one of Interserve’s many unsung heroes, who joined this call to action to help build these critical care sites.
With the help of his tireless team, he worked around the clock to build Birmingham’s NHS Nightingale North West, complete with fully working facilities, in just 11 days.
Since helping set up the site, the father-of-two from Hackney, east London, now ensures the daily running of its ambulance service is both efficient and safe.
‘I took on this job because it was the right thing to do – it’s my legacy,’ says Abdel. ‘In the future, when my children ask me, “What did you do during the pandemic, Dad?”, I’ll be able to talk with pride about what I did.’
Abdel and his team are responsible for ensuring the ambulances at NHS Nightingale North West are cleaned, decontaminated and supplied with fresh, working equipment within 30 minutes.
‘We are totally committed to ensuring every ambulance is in the best possible shape to save lives and protect the health of our wonderful medics. ‘We have the right equipment, we’re all part of a team, and we’re here to do our best. I’m immensely proud of my team and my colleagues.’
KEEP STAYING SAFE
Here are a few ways that you can protect yourself from the virus:
◼ Avoid crowds. When outside, try to keep around 2m from people outside of your household, and don’t stand face-to-face with them – you’re less likely to be infected.
◼ Work from home if you can. Otherwise, consider travelling by foot or bicycle. Ask your employer if you can work with the same team each time, or split into smaller groups.
◼ Wash your hands frequently or use sanitiser if you’ve been outside, and avoid touching your face. Wash your clothes regularly – there’s some evidence the virus can linger on material.
◼ Keep windows open in buildings where different households come into contact.
◼ Wear a face covering in enclosed spaces such as shops and trains. You can find ways to make them at home online.
source https://metro.co.uk/2020/05/19/pulling-together-12720069/
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