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Inside the frightening chaos of Hull’s intensive care unit lies a patient battling coronavirus.
But this isn’t an elderly person with underlying health conditions but previously fit and healthy Laura who is just 31 years old.
Look North’s health correspondent Vicky Johnson was invited in to the Intensive Care Unit at Hull Royal Infirmary to show people the stark reality of the pandemic.
Many people are frustrated by the restrictions in place, others are complacent and a disturbing few refuse to believe the virus even exists.
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But the Hull Universities Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust says there are currently 166 Covid-19 positive patients at either Hull Royal or Castle Hill with 16 in intensive care.
Bosses at the trust wanted to show people what is really happening behind the scenes.
On Friday’s Look North, every bed was taken by patients receiving oxygen with some on ventilators while stressed out and tired staff did their utmost to help keep people alive.
Laura spoke to Look North through her mask, where she admitted she had been one of the complacent ones.
(Image: BBC)
She said: “I didn’t wear a mask because of my mental health and I didn’t think I was going to get it but I have been proved wrong. I have never really been ill before.”
Sharon has been in ICU for a fortnight where staff battled to keep her alive.
She told Look North: “It has been very bad. They thought at one point they could do nothing for me.”
Staff have also been blunt and honest about the grim task they are facing.
Dr Caroline Hibbert, consultant in critical care, said: “It feels like it could rapidly escalate out of control and there will be nothing we can do.
“We have far more patients in hospital than we did during the first wave.
“We are treating patients with high flows of oxygen and specialised devices but hopefully preventing them from needing ventilators.”
Another experienced nurse admitted she has never seen anything like it in all her years.
She said: “It’s overwhelming, I have never had a year like this in my whole career.”
(Image: BBC)
Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust’s medical director Professor Russell Patmore also had no way of sugar coating the desperate situation.
He told Look North’s Peter Levy: “This is the worst health crisis we have ever had to face.
“This is really tough and staff are working so hard every day. The type of work is emotionally draining. It is relentless.
“It depends on where you start with age and health conditions but a good proportion of people who end up on ICU will die.”
Helping Hull’s Hospital Heroes is a campaign launched by Hull Live and the Hull Daily Mail to raise £25,000 to support our incredible hospital staff.
Workers at Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital have been at the frontline of the coronavirus pandemic, caring for the most seriously ill patients.
The campaign aims to raise money to support staff and provide them with small treats to lift their spirits and say thank you for their incredible work.
Donations will go to the charity WISHH – Working Independently to Support Hull’s Hospitals – so will go directly towards hospital workers in Hull.
How you can help
A donation of…
£5 will support a front line nurse with a meal, drinks and a snack.
£10 will provide a nurse with a wellbeing care package including protective face and hand creams to care for skin from constant mask and PPE wearing.
£100 will provide a Wellbeing Room Box, accessible to ward staff with mindfulness and distraction items to help them relax including journals, colouring and puzzle books, felt tip pens, puzzles, distraction games and wellbeing books. The ideas for the contents of these boxes have been inspired by the staff.
In addition to the above, the charity proposes to spend between £1,000 and £3,000 to help make enhancements to staff rest rooms in the hospitals by improving the availability of and access to drinks facilities including coffee machines, microwaves and improving furnishings to enable staff to take a break.
The more money that is donated will enable the charity to support as many of Hull’s 9,500 hospital staff as possible, helping the charity to support them during and beyond the pandemic.
How to donate
You can donate through the dedicated JustGiving page here.
Alternatively, cheques can be made payable to WISHH Charity, writing on the back ‘Hull Live COVID-19 appeal’ and sent to the WISHH Office, Hull Live COVID-19 Appeal, First Floor Administration Block, Castle Hill Hospital, Castle Road, Cottingham, HU16 5JQ.
The revelations come as Hull is once again the worst area in the country for weekly coronavirus infections after a big drop in the likes of Oldham and Blackburn with Darwen.
According to the PA, Hull’s weekly infection rate has risen sharply once more rising from 727.2 cases per 100,000 of the population to 743.3 with 1,931 new cases in the week leading up to November 9.
The city is now the only area with an infection rate of above 700.
On Friday, Public Health Figures show Hull has seen a daily rise in coronavirus cases of 312 and an infection rate 2,905.6 per 100,000 of the of the population.
Find the latest coronavirus cases near you
In the East Riding there was a rise in the last 24 hours of 228 cases and it has an infection rate of 2,268.1.
The hope is that the second lockdown, which is scheduled to end on December 2, will go a long way towards cutting those numbers.
Sadly, four more people have died in Hull’s hospitals after contracting coronavirus with three dying on Wednesday and one more on Thursday. Hull and East Yorkshire’s death toll now stands at 274. All of the deaths occurred at either Hull Royal Infirmary or Castle Hill Hospital.
