A HOSPITAL worker from Abergavenny described the second wave of coronavirus as “possibly the worst experience” of his life, adding that he fears NHS staff may never recover mentally from the pandemic.

Glenn Dene, an operating department practitioner at the Grange University Hospital, has published a book of images he has taken showing the experience of working in Wales’ flagship hospital during the second wave.

Mr Dene has previously published ‘Behind the Mask’, detailing the initial outbreak of coronavirus from inside Nevill Hall Hospital.

But his latest book – ‘The Second Wave’ – follows the move into the Grange University Hospital and impact of the second wave of coronavirus on staff.

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“I would say the second wave overall was possibly the worst experience of my life,” he said. “Plus we had the winter pressures on top of that.

“It was just full of sadness. During the first wave, you would see videos of people clapping when patients were leaving the wards. But in the second wave, we’ve just seen patients leaving in body bags.

“Personally I don’t think many staff will recover from that.

South Wales Argus: Staff inside the Grange University Hospital during the second wave. Picture: Glenn Dene.Staff inside the Grange University Hospital during the second wave. Picture: Glenn Dene.

“In the first wave it was a shock that something major was happening and we weren’t prepared for it. We saw it in Italy and I remember in January Dr Ami Jones saying ‘Glenn, we should really be worrying about this.’

“There was so much positivity around. People were clapping, there were people leaving the ITU (intensive care unit). That lifted us up.

“The second wave we know more of what we are doing but staff are physically and mentally breaking down.

South Wales Argus: Glenn Dene said he had never seen as many people as low in the NHS as during the second wave. Picture: Glenn Dene.Glenn Dene said he had never seen as many people as low in the NHS as during the second wave. Picture: Glenn Dene.

South Wales Argus: NHS staff were physically and mentally exhausted during the second wave of the pandemic. Picture: Glenn Dene.NHS staff were physically and mentally exhausted during the second wave of the pandemic. Picture: Glenn Dene.

“I have never seen so many staff in one place being down. Staff are physically and mentally exhausted. We are also low on staff.

“I have never heard so many staff talking about how low they are and that they want to leave the NHS – which is so sad.

“For me personally, when the second wave finished I had to take about a month and a half off.

“I’m the sort of person that months after an incident, it still affects me. I needed six weeks off as mentally my head was in the shed.

“People say they are sick of covid, but we deal with it every day.”

South Wales Argus: The second wave was described as 'full of sadness'. Picture: Picture: Glenn Dene.The second wave was described as 'full of sadness'. Picture: Picture: Glenn Dene.

Throughout the second wave, hospital staff in Gwent also had the added pressure of moving into the Grange in November.

“I think a lot of staff were in disbelief. We had to move all the equipment and patients to the Grange,” said Mr Dene. “It added stress on top of everything else.

“I’m glad we did open the hospital. There’s more room and I think we handled it quite well. Bringing the two teams together, the staff clicked quite well.”

South Wales Argus: Staff at the Grange comforting each other during the second wave. Picture: Glenn Dene.Staff at the Grange comforting each other during the second wave. Picture: Glenn Dene.

Mr Dene expressed frustration with high-profile names sharing misinformation about coronavirus with their large numbers of followers.

One example he cited was former footballer Matt Le Tissier, who in September last year shared a post which read: “The people who hid Anne Frank were breaking the law. The people who killed her were following it” – which had been posted in reply to a video of a police officer challenging a member of the public on a train over not wearing a face covering, and attempting to remove them when they refused.

Le Tissier captioned the tweet with “Remember this” before later deleting the tweet.

More recently, he tweeted: “Why didn’t we ever try this hard to “defeat” flu? It has a similar fatality rate to “covid” and actually affects younger people more? Answers on a postcard.”

South Wales Argus: Glenn Dene said he fears many staff members will struggle to recover from the number of patients dying throughout the second wave. Picture: Glenn Dene.Glenn Dene said he fears many staff members will struggle to recover from the number of patients dying throughout the second wave. Picture: Glenn Dene.

“One of the things is in the first wave, the public were really with us,” said Mr Dene. “In the second wave, there was this small percentage of people that really weren’t.

“We were really concerned with the misinformation being put out there.

“You see celebrities like Matt Le Tissier and Gillian McKeith sharing things online. They have such a major influence. You would think they would educate themselves a bit more.

“There’s people walking around the shops with no masks on. With some people you are never going to be able to get the message through to them.

“You look at people bombarding a 17-year-old [Maisy Evans] after she gave a warning from hospital. We live in a world of keyboard warriors. I would like to see better policing of these things on social media.

“NHS staff are so affected by what we see online. The thing is, if these people come in, we would still treat them exactly the same.

South Wales Argus: A member of staff working at the Grange through the second wave of the pandemic. Picture: Glenn Dene.A member of staff working at the Grange through the second wave of the pandemic. Picture: Glenn Dene.

“At Nevill Hall, we had patients on the covid ward who were anti-vax, and after they had it that changed their mind.

“We’ve seen less numbers [of patients in intensive care] in the third wave, much better than in the first and second wave. In the ITU, there are more people who are unvaccinated now.”

When asked if he hoped the book would change anyone’s opinions on the seriousness of coronavirus, Mr Dene said: “I hope so.”

“Just stick by the rules,” he said when asked what the public can do to support NHS staff. “If you’re in a supermarket, put a mask on – it’s the rules.”

South Wales Argus: A patient being treated at the Grange during the second wave of the pandemic. Picture: Glenn Dene.A patient being treated at the Grange during the second wave of the pandemic. Picture: Glenn Dene.

Money raised from sales of the book will be used to fund wellbeing rooms in hospitals across Wales, with a percentage also going to the Wales Air Ambulance.

“I think the whole wellbeing department is underfunded,” said Mr Dene. “In every hospital, the mental health department should be the heartbeat of the whole hospital.

“If you look after the staff and their mental health, especially during a pandemic, then staff will feel like they are cared for.      

“They are trying their best, they are just underfunded.”