Shropshire hospitals boss: 'This has been a year none of us will ever forget'
Read the latest column from Dr Arne Rose, medical director at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust.
Today marks exactly one year since the first coronavirus case was confirmed in Shropshire.
In those 12 months all of our lives have changed in ways none of us could really have imagined. I don’t think many people believed that, a year on, we would not only still be battling coronavirus, but still in a national lockdown to try to reduce its threat.
Tragically, in the last year, nearly 600 people in Shropshire have now lost their lives to the virus, with most deaths happening in our acute hospitals, the Royal Shrewsbury and Princess Royal.
The figure is a hard one to get your head around but, as I have said before, the important thing is that these people are not merely statistics. Each one is a loved one mourned and missed.
Thankfully, the number of coronavirus patients we are caring for continues to fall and currently stands at about 40.
This pandemic has taken its toll. We have all lost some of the liberties we have taken for granted and, for my colleagues in the NHS, it has been a situation like none any of us have ever faced before and for which no amount of training can prepare you.
Colleagues are tired. They are stretched. But they have shown remarkable resilience to continue to care for those people who need us most.
We have a ‘roadmap’ out of lockdown which, we all hope, will lead to a greater sense of normality back in our lives. When that comes, the adrenalin that has kept many of us going for the last year may well run out. It is then that we must make sure we look after ourselves and each other, more so than we are already doing.
There is no doubt that the last 12 months has been a difficult and, all too often, tragic time. But there have been many bright spots along the way.
We have seen patients who were in our ITUs being discharged home, we have seen colleagues in our own hospitals, the wider NHS and the whole health and care family come together as never before to find innovative solutions to problems we needed to overcome.
We have seen a vaccine developed and rolled out at pace. Locally, more than 200,000 vaccines have been administered and the vast majority of people in the top four priority groups across Shropshire have now received their first dose of the vaccine, along with residents in care homes.
Nearly 1,000 people have been recruited to the vaccination service to help with this incredible effort.
And, of course, we have seen an overwhelming display of generosity from the community.
Generosity of spirit, ranging from the doorstep ‘clap for carers’ at the start of the pandemic, to the kind words that continue to come into our offices today. And kindness in giving, whether that is donations to our charity, donations of food and other goodies to colleagues or donations of time from our wonderful volunteers.
This has been a year none of us will ever forget.
We are, of course, not out of the woods yet. Although there is light at the end of the tunnel, we have had our hope dashed before so, for now, we must continue to do everything asked of us to keep slowing the spread of the virus so that, hopefully, this time next year, this is just a memory.
