Royal Gwent Hospital staff praised for dedication in pandemic

Health minister Vaughan Gething visited the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport today to meet doctors, nurses, and other staff who bore the brunt of the Covid-19 response when the crisis hit Wales in the spring.

"I can honestly say it’s been an emotional experience meeting these staff, and I can’t overstate how proud I am of them and their colleagues for what they’ve done caring for people across Wales," Mr Gething said.

The minister's visit comes as the coronavirus outbreak in Gwent's Aneurin Bevan University Health Board (ABUHB) area continues to ease, but doctors at the Royal Gwent said the first months – when the rate of infection in Gwent was among the highest in the UK – took a toll on the hospital's front-line staff.

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"There was an acute period just in that surge of coronavirus in the Gwent area, when a large number of staff within the department did catch coronavirus, and I was one of those," Tim Rogerson, clinical director and consultant in emergency medicine, told the Argus.

"At the time, it meant a lot of our colleagues who weren’t infected had to step up and pull extra shifts. We really rallied through that period, and that’s a credit to the colleagues in the department."

Dr Tim Rogerson, clinical director and consultant in emergency medicine at the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport.

After a socially-distanced meeting with a group of hospital workers in front of the Newport hospital, Mr Gething said he was impressed by their commitment, teamwork, and "the passion and pride [they] have in the job they've done".

Intensive care consultant David Hepburn first spoke to the Argus in March when he was himself ill with Covid-19. Then, he urged people in Gwent to follow the public health advice and prevent the NHS from being overrun.

But speaking today, he said the picture in the Royal Gwent's intensive care unit was now much more optimistic – although fears of a second wave of the virus still loom large.

"Currently things are under control, we’ve got about 10 patients at the moment and nobody’s got Covid," he said.

Dr David Hepburn, intensive care consultant at the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport.

"Morale is pretty good [but] it’s taken a few knocks," Dr Hepburn added. "I think we haven’t had time to stop and think because it was full on for two months.

"It’s definitely taken a toll on people, and I don’t think we’ll know what that toll is for a while yet. If we’re catapulted back into another pandemic scenario in the winter, with flu and Covid at the same time, we won’t have that breathing space."

Dr Rogerson said his colleagues were "relieved" to be passed the worst of the first wave of Covid-19.

"I think there’s an element of fatigue, because people did pull in the extra hours and the extra shifts, but I think people know we pulled it out of the bag," he said. "But there is concern about a second wave and also going into a winter generally with all these additional risks, and the expectation that there will be some Covid mixed into our normal winter flows."

Wales' health minister Vaughan Gething, pictured with Newport West MS Jayne Bryant, meets staff at the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport.

Dr Hepburn said the coronavirus lockdown had had the desired effect, to prevent a surge of cases bringing hospitals to their knees.

"I know some people have been very critical of it, saying that it’s unnecessary and it’s caused huge amounts of financial hardship – all these things are true, but at the same time I know what it was like here two months ago, and anyone who thinks it was a hoax needs their heads checked," he said.

"It was absolutely the worst situation you could possibly find yourself in as a healthcare worker."

Mr Gething called on the public to continue following public health advice.

"The risk is that people see that very low prevalence of the virus and behave like it’s gone away, when it hasn’t," he said, adding: "It’s still there and it’s really important we don’t drop our guard in the autumn and the winter."