Today (Thursday 11 March), marks the year anniversary since our first Covid-19 patient died. Within weeks our hospitals would have many more Covid patients, and the whole country would go into lockdown.

As our Chief Medical Officer, Magda Smith (pictured above, before the pandemic), has been at the forefront throughout the pandemic, and has reflected on her experience since first hearing of Covid-19:

“Before the pandemic hit we’d just come out of a normal winter, breathed a sigh of relief and started to think about the future, our five-year plan and priorities. I’d heard about Covid-19 in China, but never imagined how big it would become; I’ve been a doctor for many years and it’s been like nothing I’ve ever seen.

It was when I saw how it hit Italy that I first started to wonder that we could also be badly hit, and started thinking about how we’d manage.

We went into lockdown around the time of my daughter’s 18^th birthday – we had our family meal, but she never got to have her party with her friends. Like all families, we remember the milestones it has affected.

When we first started seeing Covid patients we had to completely change our emergency departments. It was hard at the start to know who had it, as we didn’t have testing then as we do now. It was all based in clinical assessment.

Things ramped up quickly and we had to constantly adapt, changing wards, moving staff. Sadly we discovered early on that people got very sick, very quickly with Covid.

With our beds full of Covid patients, we had to look at how we could safely care for patients with other conditions – such as cancer and those needing urgent operations. That’s when we started working with private hospitals, something which was unheard of before.

And we started running virtual clinics, which were very popular with patients.

One of the hardest decisions was stopping visiting, but it was one we had to make to keep everyone safe. Again, we adapted and found other ways for patients and their families to communicate, such as via donated iPads.

Our staff have been amazing throughout and it’s been important to look after them as the pandemic has gone on. Most major incidents last around 24 hours, or a couple of days at most, this has been unprecedented. We started by introducing wellbeing hubs, which were well received. As well as counselling, and group ‘Let it Out’ sessions. This will continue to be a priority for us long after the pandemic.

We also had to look out for our staff when the health inequalities became clear, of how Covid was disproportionately affecting some communities, such as BAME groups. So we risk assessed our staff. It was a real struggle for some of those whom we found it was too risky for them to be in work.

The second wave was really tough, the biggest challenge was how tired our staff were, who had been dealing with the pandemic for months already. It was also different; we had treatments and knowledge of the virus and used what we’d learned in the first peak. We also had a vaccine, our game changer and route back to normal life.

The pandemic has been horrendous for everyone, it’s touched everybody, our staff and our communities have all lost loved ones. I’ve been amazed by the resilience of our teams, we’ve seen the best of the best.

For me, it’s been a rollercoaster, with every range of emotion. At times I’ve felt despair, always I felt pride in our people for everything they’ve done, and I felt emotional when I would see my neighbours joining the clap for carers. I’ve also been lucky to have the support of my family.

Now is the time to feel hope. We have a route out of lockdown, and are seeing a slow and steady decrease in cases. However, I’d remind people not to let down their guard. Community prevalence is still high, we’re still a way off where we were last summer.

Lastly, I’d like to thank our patients and communities for their patience. Many people are having to wait longer than they should and I can reassure them that we are looking at our waiting lists, and will be prioritising those in order of need. We will get to you.