'Scared and exhausted’ junior medics describe life on coronavirus frontline

It’s hard to imagine the bravery it takes to walk into a hospital every day while a novel disease is spreading across the globe, killing millions of people.

Even the world’s most experienced doctors have said they’ve never seen anything like coronavirus, so it goes without saying that no amount of training could have prepared student medics due to graduate this year for what was about to hit.

Working for the NHS is daunting at the best of times, let alone during a deadly pandemic. Nevertheless, thousands of final year doctors and nurses responded to the government’s call for help as Covid-19 swept across the country.

In normal times, the fast-tracked students would have had a few months break between qualifying and starting their new roles. The gap gives them time to work abroad on what’s known as an ‘elective’, enjoy ‘the fun stuff’ such as their graduation ceremony and ball, or simply relax after years of rigorous study.

After agreeing to start their jobs early, many are now working 12+ hour shifts, sweltering in PPE (if they are lucky enough to have it) and having to put on a brave face as they support seriously ill patients – from young children to their own colleagues – battle coronavirus.

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Yet despite putting their lives on the line everyday, many have described it as a ‘privilege’ to work for the NHS, expressing their hopes it will be more valued when the crisis finally passes.

Here are some first-hand accounts from doctors and nurses describing the exciting but terrifying reality of starting their first jobs in the middle of a pandemic.

Dr Samir Khan, 27, working on a geriatric ward at University Hospital Lewisham 

Even though the end of our final year at medical school had fizzled out with all the excitement of a queue for Tesco, it was ok

Having completed his final year exams in January, King’s College graduate Samir Khan, 27, said he felt ‘ready and excited’ to become a doctor by the time the virus took hold.

That being said, his plans did change dramatically, with the pandemic throwing the opportunity of working in a hospital abroad out the window.

Samir, from Brighton, told Metro.co.uk: ‘There was still a lot left in the year to be excited about. A long tradition in a medical degree is the opportunity to take an elective placement, naturally the pinnacle of most med student’s degree – so the news that I couldn’t learn a different side of medicine abroad was pretty devastating at the time.

‘Next up was graduation ceremony (we had graduated via email) and our grad ball – both cancelled, though faculty put together a Zoom graduation for us. This was particularly hard, not being able to celebrate with your peers and family about the long road you’ve been on to become a doctor was quite deflating.’

Despite the end of his final year ‘fizzling out with all the excitement of a queue for Tesco’, Samir said he and his classmates understood and agreed with why all these events had to be cancelled.

‘We were ready to fill the gaps in the NHS when they needed us most’ he said.

I’m also nervous about the overstretched health service, facing dying patients at an increased rate and bringing the virus back home or to neighbouring flats

The London-based doctor spoke to Metro.co.uk shortly before starting his job on a geriatric ward at University Hospital Lewisham.

He said it was ‘daunting’ to think of being ‘drafted’ into the frontline in the middle of a pandemic, something the curriculum at medical school doesn’t quite cover. Reports about PPE shortages also worried him, especially as being of mixed ethnicity increases his risk of catching the virus.

‘I’m nervous about all the expected things when I start as a doctor: remembering my clinical knowledge, being safe, being a good doctor’ he said.

‘But I’m also nervous about the overstretched health service, facing dying patients at an increased rate and bringing the virus back home or to neighbouring flats.

‘There’s still a lot we don’t know about the disease, the fact that the virus appears to be disproportionately affecting BAME individuals is worrying, particularly being of mixed ethnicity’.

But he said his training had prepared him for the role and he knew he would be well supported.

‘I’m hugely proud to be working in the NHS, and the recent support of the country helps me in this and preparing for life as a doctor. I hope it lasts.

‘The NHS has been struggling for some time with an exhausted, overworked workforce before the virus even arrived. I hope we can appreciate our health service and provide the resources it needs to protect us all, and that we learn how to adapt to be even more prepared for any future crises we may face.’

Dr Toni Robinson, 27, working on A&E at Royal Stoke University Hospital

As my family are more high risk, I keep thinking, what if they don’t make it to see me graduate?

For mum-of-two Toni Robinson, 26, who is working on A&E at the Royal Stoke University Hospital, the high proportion of deaths among black and ethnic minorities is also a worry.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show black adults are nearly four times more likely to die of coronavirus than white adults, while a Guardian analysis found 61% of NHS workers who have died from Covid-19 were from black or minority ethnic groups (BAME).

‘I was quite apprehensive, especially about the reports saying black and ethnic minority people are dying more, as I am black myself, so it’s quite scary on the frontline’ Toni said.

‘My family were really worried about me being in the thick of it. Fortunately we have really good PPE, that was really lucky.

‘I was worried about starting but I felt I could not sit at home not working when I have got two young kids and the skills the NHS needs.

‘I do feel a bit sad about missing out on just having that break and getting to celebrate with your family. As my family are more high risk, I keep thinking, what if they don’t make it to see me graduate.’

Toni, from Staffordshire, takes extra measures to ensure she does not bring the virus home, such as showering at the end of her shift, changing into fresh clothes before she leaves and showering again when she gets home.

But as her children, aged four and one, have to go to nursery, Toni faces the added anxiety they could catch the infection there.

Having started on A&E at the peak of outbreak in April, she has seen first hand how destructive coronavirus can be when it takes hold.

She said: ‘People who were coming in were really sick. You read about it on the news, but you can’t really understand  what it’s like until you are in that situation. A lot of people are under the impression it’s only the elderly people who who get really ill, but we’ve seen young people who are really breathless and really struggling.’

She said it can be difficult keeping composure at times, but she feels grateful to be given the opportunity to help.

‘It’s terrifying but you are also lucky in a sense, some people are stuck at home, they are victims of domestic violence or parents with lots of children living in high rise flats, so we are lucky to be able to work and to still have some social interaction at work.’

Dr Chloe Tierney, 26, working in intensive care at St Thomas’ Hospital, London

You are thrown in at the deep end

More than 300 NHS and care workers have died of coronavirus – a tragedy which some have blamed on personal protective equipment (PPE) shortages.

Ministers have been widely criticised for failing to stockpile PPE, despite years of warnings this would be critical to any pandemic response.

The doctors and nurses who spoke to Metro.co.uk said they had been fortunate enough to have adequate protection, though they were aware this was not the case for colleagues at smaller trusts and hospitals.

For Chloe Tierney, who was deployed to an intensive care unit (ICU) at the peak of the UK’s outbreak, having full PPE was not something she took for granted.

Coronavirus patients end up in intensive care when they are struggling to breath and in the most serious cases develop pneumonia. Chloe said one of the ‘lows’ of the job was seeing key workers admitted to ICU, ‘or even worse when they don’t make it at all’.

However, she said there was a lot of mental health support on offer and she was grateful for the learning opportunity of treating a new disease.

Though she already had a job lined up in Manchester for August, she agreed to start early at St Thomas’ Hospital in London, where she had been studying, rather than move home to be with her family.

Like the other doctors and nurses, she said she could not ‘sit at home’ knowing she had skills that were needed, and put fears about catching coronavirus at the back of her mind.

The 26-year-old, from Nottingham, was drafted into a newly formed ‘proning team’ to help patients who fall seriously ill with coronavirus. The term means placing a ventilated patient on their front to help them breath by changing their body position.

After one day’s training she was ‘thrown in at the deep end’ and has been learning as she goes.

She said: ‘The proning team was devised for the corona outbreak, it included nurses, physios, newly qualified consultants. We just got on with it and it didn’t feel like there was a hierarchy. Everybody just clubbed together.

‘The PPE can stick to your skin, you are hot, you are sweaty, you have break outs, but once you have it on it on it’s a waste to do just one thing.

‘We started the team right when the peak was happening. Every bay had two beds per bay so we were at double capacity.

‘The thought of catching coronavirus worries me but all you can do is follow the guidelines. It’s a privilege to be able to work here and I feel like it will prepare me more for when I properly start.’

Amy Fancourt, 27, Nurse on A&E at Royal London Hospital

We are working mostly weekends and nights. It’s four days a week of 12 and a half hour long shifts. The nights start at 8.pm and you finish at 8.30am

Coronavirus has triggered an outpouring of support for the NHS like never before. But while initiatives like ‘Clap for Carers’ have undoubtedly provided a moral boost for exhausted staff, many hope this is matched with tangible gratitude when the crisis passes.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said he will ‘fight to get nurses a fair reward’ for their hard work during the pandemic, but he has stopped short of guaranteeing a pay rise.

Amy Fancourt, a student rep for the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), said this was ‘a real shame’ and called on the government to consider bringing back bursaries to cover nursing tuition fees, which were controversially scrapped in 2016.

The 27-year-old, from Sussex, pointed out that the cohort of final year nurses being asked to start their jobs early to prop up the NHS are the same ones who just missed out on the lifeline funding.

She is one of thousands of third year students working 12.5 hour shifts four days a week on top of completing assessment work, including a 12,000 page dissertation.

‘Because I am healthy and reasonably young, I have got the energy to do it. But it can take a toll on your body and your mental health’ she said.

For Amy, taking up a placement now meant having the chance to get valuable experience on A&E, infectious diseases and respiratory illnesses.

But another obvious incentive was that she would finally get paid.

Student nurses have to complete a massive 2,300 hours of unpaid clinical placements while studying, which many juggle while taking up paid work as healthcare assistants to fund their rent, food and child care.

This means they are no strangers to the challenging work that has been required of them during the pandemic, which Amy says it ‘not far’ from what they were doing before.

While she appreciates the rhetoric behind ‘NHS heroes’ she doesn’t really agree with it because ‘nurses were already heroes’.

She said: ‘So often you will be talking to a patient [as a student nurse] and they say, ‘oh you deserve a pay rise’. I say I am actually not being paid and they are so shocked.

‘The NHS and all core health care providers I think have been undervalued and underfunded for decades, we have faced cuts, austerity as have all public services.

‘The government have said they can’t confirm a pay rise and I think that’s a real shame because the country as a whole has garnered behind the NHS and health care professionals, but actually the work we are doing now is not far from they were doing before.

‘Nurses are constantly working with people who are infected, we are in this profession because we want to care for people and that will never change.’

Ciara McKernan, 27, nurse on the infectious diseases ward at Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast

Our nursing degree may not have ended how we imagined it to and we are adapting everyday but I am excited and ready for my future as a registered nurse

Final year nurse Ciara McKernan, working over 400 miles away In Belfast, agrees with Amy. Even though bursaries are still available in Northern Ireland, she says it’s still hard to juggle full time hours on placement and assignments while working to have the money to live on.

Student nurses are given ‘Supernumerary status’ during their placements, which means that they cannot be counted as part of the workforce. But with 45,000 nursing vacancies available across the NHS, they are often required to take on huge responsibilities while learning on the job.

‘Students definitely do so much for the NHS and I agree I hope it is appreciated more post pandemic ‘ Ciara said.

However, she said being worked hard as a student meant she felt more than prepared to join the infectious diseases ward at the peak of the outbreak in April. Though she has had ‘scary moments’, she says getting to start work early has been ‘a great learning opportunity’.

‘It has been busy and some patients have been very sick but all the staff have been great for teaching and I think being on this ward has prepared me better for my future nursing career.

‘A lot of things have changed for us in our final year of nursing but I am so glad that I can do something to help during this pandemic and being there to support those patients in hospital who may feel alone and scared during this time is a real honour’.

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