A lot of these patients remember, perhaps, coming into hospital
feeling unwell, being very breathless ... but then waking up
almost transported into the future ... two weeks, three weeks with
no recollection of what's actually happened to them.
They're scared, they're frightened, they're disorientated ...
they don't have family members around, they have staff around them
in full protective equipment.
So lots of reassurance needed.
Lots of explanations about where they are, that they're safe,
and actually, why they're so weak, why they can't talk.
So, a lot these patients with Covid-19 are coming around very weak
and dependent on the ventilator.
A lot of these patients will require mechanical ventilation
and they'll also be put to sleep to, kind of, recover from their illness,
and this is often for in a region of seven to ten days as a minimum.
We know they can lose something in the region of around 20 percent of
their muscle in the first seven days of that admission, and the challenge then
is to start this rehabilitation process, start that recovery,
hopefully get patients out of bed, sitting in chairs,
walking to rebuild that muscle strength,
but also make some progress with reducing the ventilation.
So, how was that Robert?
Good man.
So I'm just about to get ready and head on to our intensive care units
which at its peak had over a hundred ventilated patients with Covid-19.
Thankfully that's reduced slightly now, so we're at approximately 80 patients.
So the physiotherapists will, in the morning and in the evening,
do a ward round just to make sure patients are on the right setting,
they're getting enough oxygen on board but also the lungs
are being protected to help with that recovery.
One of the downsides of using ventilation is you're forcing
positive pressure into somebody's chest which in itself could
be quite damaging, so the ventilation itself needs to be managed
quite finely and within the balance of ensuring you get enough
oxygen on board or not causing any further damage to the lungs.
We've had no patients pass away today, we've had six people
discharged to the ward.
It's probably the busiest I think work has ever been,
and what's really struck me it's just that sense of togetherness.
I don't think I've ever worked in such a coordinated and well structured team,
everybody's pulling together, everybody's supporting each other.
It's a really nice feeling, it's really positive but likewise
the work is just exhausting and feels a little bit relentless.