Barts Health in the news
The work of our incredible staff across Barts Health has been recognised in the local, regional and national news throughout the pandemic. Here we share some highlights from the past few months.
The battle for survival inside Britain’s intensive care units
Back in April the Independent spoke to a number of NHS staff working in intensive care units across the country, to find out what it was like for those people working on the frontline and caring for Covid-19 patients. From Barts Health, Simon Richards, Senior Charge Nurse at The Royal London Hospital, and Andrew Williams, Consultant Anaesthetist at Whipps Cross Hospital, shared their experiences.
Critical care bed boost for London’s biggest hospital group
The Evening Standard reported on the transformation of the 14th and 15th floor at The Royal London Hospital to create additional critical care capacity for seriously ill Covid-19 patients.
BBC London also reported on the story, coming to the hospital to film, and interviewing Alistair Chesser, Chief Medical Officer, Nicola Rudkin, Deputy Associate Director of Nursing, and Susana Lucena-Amaro, Practice Development Nurse.
BBC coronavirus coverage captures the world
We welcomed BBC reporter Clive Myrie to The Royal London's new critical care unit to capture the impact of coronavirus on those at the heart of the pandemic – sharing with the world what life has been like for its diverse staff, patients and community.
The result was four flagship BBC National News stories aired over a week in May, followed by a documentary on BBC News 24 and BBC World in June titled London in the Shadow of a Virus.
Channel 4 News – Inside St Barts Hospital as NHS prepares for life beyond Covid-19
Channel 4 News visited St Bartholomew’s Hospital to take an exclusive look at the steps the trust has taken to make sure emergency surgery could be maintained throughout the pandemic, and how planned operations could restart.
Reporter Victoria Macdonald spoke to Kulvinder Lall, Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon, Ben O’Brien, Director of Perioperative Medicine, and Andrew, a patient about to have surgery, about what the hospital looks like now.
Chief Information Officer photographed by Rankin for NHS birthday portrait collection
A powerful portrait of Sarah Jensen, Chief Information Officer, was captured by acclaimed photographer Rankin, as part of collection to celebrate the NHS anniversary.
There was widespread coverage of the project with pieces in the Daily Mail, Daily Mirror, The Sun, The Times, Sky News, ITV News, Harper’s Bizarre, GQ, and the Newham Recorder.
The Guardian – Keeping the faith: religion in the UK amid coronavirus
The Royal London Hospital featured in a photo essay in The Guardian, which looked at the impact of the pandemic on faith communities in the UK.
They visited the hospital during Ramadan and photographed chaplain Iman Faruq Siddiqi and nurse Ayesha Khan.
Newham Recorder – The first wave of Covid-19 at Newham Hospital, as told by ITU doctor Zara Al-Faham
In July, the Newham Recorder published an account from Zara Al-Faham, an ICU doctor at Newham Hospital, looking at her experience of working on the frontline and treating patients with Covid-19.
BAFTA Award winning film maker captures strength and humanity of Whipps Cross staff
Hassan Akkad joined Whipps Cross as a cleaner in response to the pandemic. In April, Hassan tweeted a picture of himself wearing his cleaning uniform and PPE. The picture went viral receiving over 94,000 likes and propelling him into the spotlight. As a result Hassan has been interviewed by Russel Howard, Piers Morgan and singer Dua Lipa nominated him as her 2020 hero for GQ magazine. He has recently been nominated for the Independent’s Happy List, to honor individuals who have helped throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.
Hassan has finished his time at Whipps Cross now but before leaving, drawing on his background as a documentary maker, he began working on a photography portrait project in between shifts.
The pictures he took feature in a Politico article, they capture the strength and humanity of the colleagues around him and resulted in further attention from Vogue.